Gospel

‘The things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
Luke 12:13–21

At that time: Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of one’s possessions.’ And he told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” And he said, “I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ ” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So is the one who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God.’

The Gospel of the Lord

Never Enough

Greed leads us to place our security in the things of this world rather than in God. When we allow ourselves to be carried away by it, we devote our efforts to obtaining what we believe we need, gradually moving away from God and from our vocation as husband and wife. The disordered pursuit of greater wealth, more power, more prestige or recognition, even the desire to stand out spiritually, ends up drawing us away from what truly matters: loving God and growing in communion with our spouse. The truth is that greed is never satisfied. We always want something more, because we can never have enough of what we do not really need. We live searching outside ourselves for what only God can fill within us. Greed prevents us from truly loving, because it places our desires before self-giving. We stop looking at our spouse and being attentive to their needs because our hearts are occupied with other things. Today, Jesus invites us to recognise those little forms of greed hidden in our hearts and to detach ourselves from them, so that we may recover the freedom to love and give ourselves fully to our spouse.

Applied to Married Life:

Louise: You’ve come home late again! You said we would have dinner together tonight. Andrew: I know, but a last-minute meeting came up. I need to give it everything I’ve got, now more than ever. I’m doing all this for our family.
Louise: You always say the same thing, but you’ve hardly been at home for months. Our children wait for you, and I feel lonely.
Andrew: Thanks to our jobs, we have this house, the schools and the life we lead.
Louise: I admit I’m afraid of losing our comforts, but I’m even more afraid of continuing to lose our marriage.
Andrew: I hadn’t realised you saw it that way.
Louise: We have both fuelled this. You want to earn more and prove that you can go further; I’m afraid of giving up our comforts and the image we have built. We say it’s for the family, but often it’s really because of our own greed.
Andrew: Perhaps I’ve been looking for a sense of security in money that only God can give.
Louise: And I’ve been looking for satisfaction in other people’s recognition, but that doesn’t fulfil me either. We always want more, and it’s driving us apart.

That night, before going to sleep, they knelt down together.

Andrew: Lord, forgive us for placing our trust in our work and in what we possess. Teach us to put our priorities in the right order.
Louise: Help us to let go of whatever is necessary to care for our marriage and to seek Your Kingdom first.

Mother,
Help us to place our trust in God alone. Praised be the Lord!