Luke 12:13-21
Today is my 63rd birthday. I remembered when I was a young man studying at the university in Naga City, my mother gave me five (5) lot titles. I refused to accept it because I have two more brothers, and such properties should be divided equally. At that time, those agricultural lands were held by our relatives. That’s what I suggested to my mother—to let them manage it. The gospel reading today is relatively connected to my real-life story.
Evangelist Luke shared a story about the foolish rich man. Someone asked Jesus to appeal to his brother to divide the property for him. But Jesus replied that he is not a judge or arbitrator to do such. Why did Jesus not do it on behalf of him? Because logically, Jesus’ concern is not for the greedy and those who do foolish acts to get more abundance of possessions and resources. Then, Jesus narrates the parable of the rich man who had plentiful harvests, so the rich man built a large barn to store his harvest. Hoarding those resources and enjoying his life through eating, drinking, and partying for earthly happiness is an act of insatiability. The rich man feels a privilege for material things, but he is spiritually poor.
The final appeal of Jesus to his listeners is to prepare themselves for the truth of what tomorrow really is. St. Augustine reminds us, as he states, to “take care of your body as if you were going to live forever and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow.” We need to balance our lifestyle of having wealth, both physical and spiritual. If we just concentrated on our earthly wealth, then we would die, and nothing can bring it to the heavenly world. Everything we acquired and possessed in this world is temporal (2 Corinthians 4:18). So, seeking wealth is wasted time; rather, do many things for the benefit of many and needy people. This is a simple meaning of spirituality: to share what we have and not keep our resources for personal happiness. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, true happiness is God. Looking for happiness by accumulating more wealth is an artificial happiness.
During the pandemic, my savings are close to being depleted because I used them to buy many items to help people in need of food. It seems that the month of August is a ghost month according to the Chinese tradition; however, I keep on praying that God provide me enough resources to feed the needy people, especially those heavily affected by the pandemic. Three days after my birthday, the bank called me to tell me that my money had been deposited. That money was my dividend from the PAG-IBIG Fund.
God is a good provider of our resources. The early Christians pooled their resources to feed widows, the poor, outcasts, and those who had been affected by the Roman Empire’s ineffectiveness as well as the inconsistency of the religious people. It seems it is my birthday. May I appeal to my friends and colleagues, my former classmates and batchmates, readers, my fellow Rotarians, and those who reach out to this message to keep on helping the poor without any reservation or favor? I believe that your spirituality is high, and you keep on track to reach the needy. According to the Book of Acts, it is better to give than to receive (20:35).
Prayer
Almighty God of Provider, we praise you for providing us a fulfilling life. From this, we multiply the doing of good for your people. Please count us every time for the sake of unity and compassion with others. We pray this to your beloved Son—Jesus Christ—and through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Prof. Ruel D. Garcia is a theology professor at La Consolacion University Philippines as well as the former editor-in-chief of the International Journal on Culture, History, and Religion (IJCHR.paschr.ph).
