by Br. Antony Maldonado, O.S.B.

     We would always want to have surplus in order not to have to worry in the future.  And this happens even when we know well that others are unable to make ends meet.

     In this Sunday’s Gospel someone wants a share in an inheritance.  While this person might be entitled to his/her share, inherited goods are not earned, just received.  So Jesus takes the opportunity to teach a lesson about greed using a parable.  In his story a rich man has a good harvest but not large enough bins to store it.  He resolves to build larger bins for this purpose and so ensure his future.  The thought of sharing this abundance with others who have not been so lucky never enters his mind.  He feels very entitled to his good fortune.  But what he does not care to share with others by generosity is going to end in other people’s hands anyway when death comes to him that night.  Not having actively harmed anyone, his grave sin is one of omission.

     Greed poisons the human mind by creating a need to feel we are better others in many respects.  To feel that we own more things than others, that we eat better than others, that we look better than others, and so on.  As Jesus warned, possessions do not guarantee life, so let us try to be wealthy in acts of charity and in those things that make us rich in the sight of God.

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