Gospel: Luke 12:13-21. The Parable of the Rich Fool.

Letter to Sinead, Mark and Friends,- young adults in search of faith and understanding. (This week’s Letter is written by Sarah Kelly, who is in her 20′s. Thanks, Sarah!)

Dear Friends,

How does today’s Gospel speak to you? I ask myself this very question every time I read or hear a piece of Scripture. At first glance I surmised that it is a beautiful piece of Scripture, but it has no effect on me, no relevance to my life. But, that was at first glance. And then I thought, was that not what the man with all the grain saved in his magnificent barns thought, that at first glance, he had “plenty of good things laid by for many years to come”.

'Store up for yourself...' ?

At first glance, we may think we really have it all. Instead of it being grain stored in our barns, -or should I say, our hearts?- it could be greed, selfishness, anger, hatred, violence, corruption, power or indeed money, alcohol, iPhones, iPods, iPads, tvs, dvds, blu-ray, cars, false nails, false eyelashes, fake tan, facebook, twitter, clothes, shoes, perfumes, aftershaves, make-up, the list is endless. Now, in moderation, some of the above mentioned are alright, but to allow a THING to drive you, to possess your very being is not right. Now, I’m not speaking to you from some ivory tower, nor will I pretend that I am innocent of the above, but because I am human, I know all these temptations too well. These are the grains which we store in our own esoteric barns, and we assume that just because we have all these fascinating and wonderful gadgets and gizmos, we convince ourselves that we are truly happy, but we still strive for more! One of my favourite singers, Stacie Orrico, has a wonderful song called “More to Life”. The lines of the chorus really stand out “there’s gotta be more to life, than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me. . . but I’m sure, there’s gotta be more, than wanting more”. Hmmmmm… More, than just wanting more. What do you think? (See below for links).

In a speech recently, Pope Francis strongly advised against the cult of money, stating that “We have created new idols. The worship of the golden calf of old (cf. Ex 32:15-34) has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal”. If we read this warning in light of today’s Gospel, and in regards to the above, we realize just how dangerous it is to allow commodities to overcome us. We use these things as a barricade against God’s love, and we shut Him out. But what of all this stuff can we bring to heaven? What of these does God desire? He only desires you. He is our treasure and we are His. We must store Him and  his love for us in our hearts. It is when we deny God the place He so rightly deserves, that we make things our gods. What really strikes me about the wealthy man in this Gospel is his lack of gratitude to God. Not once does he make any reference to the One who is richness beyond gold. This man so prided himself on building an empire of things, that he neglected “to make himself rich in the sight of God”. Jesus warns us that a ‘person’s life is not made secure by what they own’.

Thank God for the bed on which you lie, the pillow on which you rest your head, the blankets that keep you cosy, the love that keeps you warm, the roof that keeps you safe. Thank God for the food you eat. These things are important, but they are not vital. Before his execution by the Nazis, Fr. Alfred Delp, a Jesuit priest exclaimed “bread is important, freedom is more important, but most important is unbroken fidelity and worship [of God]”.

So instead of texting, why not put aside a few moments to read a Sacred Text. Store up

Text messages,- lots of them!

God’s Word in your heart.

God bless.

Sarah.

YOU TUBE:

You can listen to Stacie Orrico, ‘(There’s Gotta be) More to Life’ on

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUOcQnWbk_U   or on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwxNFlvj5Dw

Gospel: Luke 12:13-21. Reading 1: Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23.   Reading 2: Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11. Click here for Mass Readings, or find them in your own missal or Bible. A few lines that give us a flavour of this week’s Word of God for us.

‘For so it is that a man who has laboured wisely, skilfully and successfully must leave what is his own to someone ho has not toiled for it at all….What does he gain for all the toil and strain that he has undergone?…What of all his laborious days, his cares of office, his restless nights?’  (First Reading)

‘Make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart.’ (Ps.89)

‘You have been brought back to true life with Christ….Now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. (Christ) is your life.’  (2nd Reading)

‘Watch and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.’  (Gospel)

‘This hoard of yours, whose will it be then?’  (Gospel)

A Reflection:

Am I a fool? Or, as we say in Ireland, ‘Am I an eejit?’,- it’s our way of saying ‘idiot’. We have an Irish word also, which is perhaps a bit gentler, for someone who has lost the plot in some way: ‘Am I an amadán?’ (pronounded Oma-Dawn), – implying that someone is a bit foolish (usually, an understatement!).

Jesus said in Matthew 5:22 that you should not call anyone a fool’  ‘Anyone who calls a brother ‘Fool’ will answer for it…’  And the Aramaic word he used is ‘raqa’ which means ‘empty-head’ or ‘nit-wit’. Yet, in Luke’s Gospel today, God himself calls the Rich Farmer a ‘Fool’. Must have been some nit-wit! But why?

'The Rich Fool'- Who? Me?

We are here given a parable,- a story with a sting in the tail, a story with no answers given, but leaving us with a big question. Why was the parable told? To whom was Jesus talking? A man came seeking Jesus’ help in a family row with his brother,- looking for his share of the inheritance. Jesus wasn’t going to get involved in a family dispute. The questioner had his heart set on getting some large inheritance,- ‘his heart, set’,- and that was the issue Jesus addressed. The man’s ‘heart was set’ on things, only.  So Jesus told him a story (parable),- made up- and left the man (and us) with a question.

Read it for yourselves (Luke 12:13-21). It’s about the Rich Fool!

Am I an Eejit? Maybe so. Certainly if I store up treasure for myself only until I begin to say ‘My soul, you have plenty of good things laid up for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time’. And then God will say ‘You fool!’. You’re missing the point! You’ve lost the plot! Your heart is gone astray. And with all the stuff you pile up, you will still be as empty as a bag of wind.

‘You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts will not find rest until they rest in you.’ (Augustine, who had gone down all the byroads of life, before he allowed God to captivate his heart.).

'Christ, the Light of Heaven'

If you want a good reflection on this, and have a little time to sit and read, find the poem/reflection by Francis Thompson ‘The Hound of Heaven’. It’s about all the ways a person can run from God, but our God will never give up chasing us, like ‘a hound of heaven’, with love. Click here below for the Text of it http://www.ewtn.com/library/HUMANITY/HNDHVN.HTM, or click here to hear it read by Richard Burton, the Welsh actor, on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gToj6SLWz8Q

Wouldn’t it be a real pity to live life to the end and then meet our Maker and He to look sadly into our hearts and tells us that we were Amadáns?

‘This hoard of yours, whose shall it be? So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.’ (and that goes for women, too!).

Food for thought.

Seamus Devitt C.Ss.R.