Monday - finances

Prayer:  O give thanks to the Risen Lord,  for He is good.  For His mercy endures forever.  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,  He who brought us out of the shadow of death into the light of day.  Allelulia!

Read St. Luke 12: 13 – 21

From the crowd,  a man asks Jesus to tell his brother to divide the inheritance between the man and his brother.   In  Judaism it is natural for a man to bring a legal case to a religious leader. 

Jesus declines to act as judge or arbiter between the two brothers.  Instead Jesus says to the man and the  crowd to watch out and be on their guard for greed.   Jesus continues to say that a man’s life  is not defined but the number of material possessions in his care.  

Jesus then illustrates his teachings by telling a story of the greedy farmer.   The farmer built bigger barns to hold more of the harvest.   The farmer gathers all his material possession and says to himself, “Self, you’ve done well!  You’ve got it made and can now retire.  Take it easy and have the time of your life”.  (The Message,  St Luke 12: 19  Zondervan, 2005).    But God says to the greedy farmer that this very night his life will be demanded – and who will end up with the greedy farmer’s  possessions.

The parable sends us thinking that we must fill our lives with living in God’s path.  If we fill our lives with nothing but material possessions,  this will not lead us to God.    

How do we balance this parable to today where we save our pennies for our retirement?  We have money in RRSPs and GICs and RIFs so that we have enough money to live out our days in the style to which we have become accustomed.   Remember that in the time of Jesus there was no retirement….  when the father and mother got too old to care of themselves,  the sons and their wives would care for the seniors.    

But the question remains for us today to think about… how much money do we need in order to live out our days in comparison to taking our extra monies and helping those in this world who have no food nor clothes nor shelter.    Something to think about.

Prayer:  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  who according to His abundant mercy has brought us into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  Great God,  we know that  our inheritance is eternal life and will never fade away.   Blessed Trinity,  world without end.  Amen.