BEADS OF JOY 07-31-16
“Parable of The Rich Fool”
©2016 James Dacey, Jr. OFS
My Friends,
Today’s
Gospel: Luke 12:13-21 (Parable of The Rich Fool)
“One of the multitude said to him, "Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?" And he said to them, "Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, `What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, `Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
“One of the multitude said to him, "Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?" And he said to them, "Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, `What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, `Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Reflection:
How arrogantly presumptive are we
that we will live another ten or twenty years or even see tomorrow? No one
knows how long we will live. How many times has it been said, “Oh my Gosh, he was so healthy I can believe
he died like that” Or “Wow! That was
sudden I was just speaking with her yesterday they seemed perfectly fine and
now she is gone.” That’s how fast our lives can be taken, we need to live
in the present and do all we can in the present while we are still here. When
we set our sights selfishly into the future we tend to forget the needs of
others currently in the present.
Our Lord has blessed each of us
with gifts some of us are blinded by selfishness and can’t see these gifts, but
all have them. Some might have the gift of compassion, others may possess the
gift of empathy and love, while others maybe have the gift of being a real true
friend. At the same time God has blessed some with the ability to help others.
In today’s gospel this farmer was blessed with an abundance of crop (food). And
what was his first thought? “And he said, `I will do this: I will pull
down my barns, and build larger
ones; and there I will store all my
grain and my goods.” Sadly, this
man was fully focused on himself, when he had the greatest opportunity to feed
orphans and the needy; instead of helping those in need all he wanted to do was
keep it all for himself. How sad.
And here’s where the agony of
this man’s life begins… Without knowledge of his life’s end and his only focus
was his own self-centeredness; his life would end that very evening and none of
these possessions of his own would be able to come with him. By choosing his own
will and not God’s will; this man will enter into God’s presence with a burden
of explanation as to why he could not find it in his heart to help others after
God has blessed him so much. Selfishness is very destructive.
Jesus First. Others Second. Me
Last. Simply way to live an abundant live full of God’s love and grace.
LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!
Your brother in Christ Jesus
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
