your judge or your attorney?” Then Jesus said to the people, “Be on your guard and avoid
every kind of greed, for even though you have many possessions, it is not that which gives
you life.” And Jesus continued, “There was a rich man, and his land had produced a good
harvest. He thought, ‘What shall I do, for I am short of room to store my harvest? Alright,
I know what I shall do: I will pull down my barns and I will build bigger ones, to store all this
grain, which is my wealth. Then I will say to myself: My friend, you have a lot of good things
put by for many years. Rest, eat, drink and enjoy yourself.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool!
This very night your life will be taken from you. Tell me, who shall get all you have put
aside?’ This is the lot of the one who stores up riches for himself and is not wealthy in the
eyes of God.”

Reflect

“Danger of Greed.” We can only serve truly when we let go of greed. When we serve, we
become a blessing to others. Greed hampers our capacity to serve because it pulls us
toward the direction of self-preservation. Today’s Gospel passage contains two parts: the
warning of Jesus against the danger of greed and the parable of the foolish rich man.
The parable warns us against all forms of greed. Greed may come in subtle ways. For
example, it may be argued that the wealth of the rich man resulted from his hard work,
hence, he could reason out that he could keep it for himself. Moreover, because of greed,
one may distortedly think that one’s life consists only of material possessions. In this case,
possession becomes a false security. Try to focus our attention on the parable. There was
a rich man who had been blessed with a good harvest. This blessing which the man
received from the Lord could have made his heart bigger that he could also be a blessing
to others. However, the said rich man, subtly lured by greed, chose a bigger barn
for his self-preservation over a bigger heart for sharing his blessings.

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