…Then he said to the crowd, "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions." Then he told them a parable. "There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, 'What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?' And he said, 'This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, "Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!" But God said to him, 'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?' Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God." (Lk 12:13-21)
Man longs for possession. He thinks that life is in acquiring possessions. Longing for and relying on and believing in material things is materialism. Today’s man almost worships material things because he believes that material things can save his life. But Jesus says that “one’s life does not consist of possessions”. Storing up things even for the future is a step against (not towards) God.
God considers the materialist as a fool. Here fool represents the one who does not know the future. Fool thinks that the future is in his hands. He thinks that he can plan and organize things of the future on his own. But there is someone who controls the happenings of the future. Materials things are of this world and man who is also of the other world should think of the things of the other world.
“Man should become rich in what matters to God”. This is what Jesus concludes in today’s passage. Man should also possess things. He should not be foolish to possess only things of this world but he should possess the things of the world of God. He should be rich. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? (Mt 16,26)
