A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 36)
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – August 1, 2004
“The Essential One”
Eccl 1:2; 2:21-23 / Col 3:1-5, 9-11 // Lk 12:13-21
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
Disputes regarding family inheritance can be very bitter and destructive. A priest narrated to our Sisters an incident that he witnessed personally. He was called to assist a dying rich man. While he was praying over him and administering the last rites, the children were violently quarrelling in the kitchen over the inheritance. The priest felt frustrated seeing that lamentable situation. This was probably the same feeling that Jesus had when someone in the crowd asked him: “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me” (Lk 12:13).
Jesus’ response to the request showed that he was truly an excellent and wise Teacher. Refusing to be dragged into the litigation, he denied any jurisdiction over the dividing of inheritances: “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” (Lk 12:14). Then he turned to the crowd, warning them about the trap of earthly possessions: “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions” (Lk 12:15). As the Divine Master, he wanted to show his disciples and would-be followers the true and efficacious way of dealing with earthly possessions. Jesus did this by narrating a parable about the hoarding Rich Fool. The latter was eagerly looking forward to a life of abundance and leisure, unaware that he was to die that very night.
The early Church writer, St. Basil the Great comments on the hapless figure of the Rich Fool: “But what do we find in this man? … (An) unwillingness to give. This is the return he made to his Benefactor. He forgot that we all share the same nature; he felt no obligation to distribute his surplus to the needy … Greed would not permit him to part with anything he possessed, and yet because he had so much there was no place to store his latest harvest … What am I to do? It would have been so easy to say: ‘I will feed the hungry. I will open my barns and call in all the poor.’”
The biblical scholar, Jerome Kodell explains why the hoarder is a “Rich Fool”: “The rich man would be the envy of most people – so wealthy that he does not have room to store his goods. But he is a fool because in the midst of his good fortune he has lost the sense of what is really important. He imagines that he can control his life. Possessions create this kind of illusion. The rich man is really poor in the sight of God. He does not even think about the possibility of sharing what he has with others.”
For the Rich Fool, the acquisition of material goods has become an end in itself. Unfortunately, this foolishness is rampantly replicated even today. According to Samuel Oyin Abogunrin: “Greed often corrupts one’s priorities. The actions of the Rich Fool are too often emulated in our world. The cause of the heinous crimes committed by political leaders in many areas of the world is greed, avarice, and the insatiable desire to accumulate wealth at the expense of those ordinary citizens who live in abject poverty and die daily for lack of the basic necessities of life.”
The final words of Jesus in the parable of the Rich Fool that is read in this Sunday’s liturgical assembly wield a cutting edge and present the reality of eschatological judgment: “Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God” (Lk 12:21). The indictment against those who are obsessed with material possessions should make us focus on what is essential. Romano Guardini asserts: “Here is the sharp division between the essential and the non-essential … Eternal possessions or temporal possessions – which are essential? Naturally, the eternal ones, for the others fade away … The more deeply people realize that Christ is the essential, the less concerned they will be about everything else.”
In the context of Jesus’ paschal journey to Jerusalem and the Easter saving mystery that the disciples are called to share with him, the Divine Master’s warning against obsessive attachment to material goods and his exhortation to seek the true riches that matter to God become a challenge for us today. The Christian followers are called to focus on what is essential, to rely on divine providence, and to cling to the person of Christ – the absolute Good.
According to Romano Guardini: “Jesus is attempting to anchor the hearts and minds of his disciples in reality. He wants them to sense what counts in God’s eyes, and what does not … They are to complete the revaluation of existence that Jesus has begun. If they do this they will be prepared for anything. If the property they know to be base wealth (whatever its justification or cultural value) is taken from them because they love Christ, there is no loss. Needless to say, this is spoken to believers, and is effective only to the degree that their belief is active. Thus Jesus roots his followers in the indestructible … He is stripping them for the coming struggle, concentrating their forces, teaching them to become invulnerable.” Indeed, to learn to focus on Christ, the essential one and to seek him as the ultimate Treasure strengthens the disciples for a full participation in his life-giving paschal destiny.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. How do I deal with material goods and temporal possessions? Is it obsessively, or with true freedom and wisdom?
B. How do I respond to Christ’s indictment: “Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God”?
C. Do I deeply realize that Christ is the essential? How does this realization affect my daily choices and actions?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father, source of all good,
you gave to us the greatest gift - your Son Jesus,
the essential one and the ultimate good.
He is the Divine Master
who teaches us how to trust in your providence
and deal wisely with material goods and earthly possessions.
Fill us with greater concern for the poor, hungry and needy
so that we may always be willing to share with them
the blessings you have bestowed upon us.
Do not allow greed to corrupt our priorities
and warp our responsibilities to our neighbor.
May we always listen to the voice of Jesus
who leads us to participate in his paschal destiny
and the wealth and beauty of the Easter glory.
He lives and reigns forever and ever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” (Lk 12:15)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Thank the Lord for the blessings you have received from him. Then ask him to inspire you how to share the goods you have received from God with others.
B. ACTION PLAN: Food for the Poor is an interdenominational Christian ministry created to help the poorest of the poor in the Caribbean and Latin America. Visit the website: www.foodforthepoor.org. Send any help possible to the following:
FOOD FOR THE POOR INC
550 SW 12th Ave
Deerfield Beach FL 33442-9855
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US