Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Rich Toward God: A Lesson in True Treasure

In today’s Gospel from Luke 12:13-21, we hear the parable of the rich fool. A man asks Jesus to intervene in a family inheritance dispute, but Jesus declines to be a judge in such matters and instead warns against greed. He tells the story of a wealthy man who builds bigger barns to store his surplus grain, thinking he can then relax, eat, drink, and be merry. But God says to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded of you.’

This parable is a sobering reminder of the fleeting nature of earthly riches and the danger of placing our trust in material possessions. The rich man is not condemned for being wealthy, but for his selfishness, his lack of concern for others, and his failure to recognize that his life and blessings come from God. He plans for everything—except his soul.

Saint Basil the Great, one of the great Fathers of the Church, speaks directly to this kind of spiritual blindness. He once said, ‘The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat hanging unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the money you keep hidden belongs to the poor.’ Saint Basil reminds us that what we have is not ours to hoard, but to share.

This Gospel challenges us to examine our own lives. Are we storing up treasures for ourselves, or are we rich in what matters to God? Do we see our possessions as gifts to be shared, or as entitlements to be guarded? The rich man in the parable thought he had time, but none of us knows the hour when our life will be required of us.

Let us then seek to be rich in faith, in mercy, and in love. Let us invest in the kingdom of God, where no thief can steal and no moth can destroy. And let us always remember that our true treasure is found not in barns or bank accounts, but in Christ Himself, who gave everything so that we might have eternal life.