In today’s Gospel, Luke 12: 13-21, Jesus reminds us that our lives do not “consist
of possessions,” not that possessions are bad but that such is not what life is
about. Life is about love, loving, and
being loved; about caring and showing others that we care, about compassion and
being compassionate, about understanding and being understood, about consoling
and being consoled, about forgiving and being forgiven. It is all about
relationships, about modeling our relationships on the relationships of the
Trinity, where all share equally in the Trinitarian resources, where each in included in the activity of the
other and equally contributing, equally rewarded and compensated; where each Person of the Blessed Trinity is of
one in mind, one heart and one spirit, committed to doing good and being goodness in
the lives of all humankind, reconciling us to our Creator God. The Trinity models love.
The core realities of life spiritually, I believe, are
faith, hope and love--love of God, love of self, and love of one’s neighbor. The expression of love is the richest of life’s
experiences and transcends all of life. Of faith, hope and love, only love lasts
eternally. Am I using my surplus to show love and concern for others, or am I hoarding it? The use of wealth for
the benefit of others enhances love. The accumulation of wealth for its own
sake, to “build larger” storage spaces to “store” one’s good, and then say to
oneself, as the rich man in today’s Gospel, now I have”so many good things
stored up for many years,” I will rest,
eat, drink and be merry” the rest of my life. (cf the parable in Luke 12:
13-21) can be a source of hardening one’s heart toward another’s plight and
need for compassion.
What do I do with the wealth with which I am blessed?
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