"For though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” -Luke 12:32


In today’s Gospel, A man approaches Jesus to arbitrate between him and his brother in a dispute over family inheritance. But instead of acting as mediator, Christ addresses the crowd, “Take care, and be on your guard against all greed, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions,” Then He proceeds to tell them the parable of the rich fool. In this parable, a man was blessed by God with great abundance and lavishness. He was a rich man and he produced a bountiful harvest. But the only worry he had in mind was how to manage and take care of his wealth. He was so caught up with his business that he failed to humble himself down. As what the psalmist have said, “If our riches increase, then we are not to set our hearts with them.”

Greed is defined as an intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food. It can overshadow any nobler emotion. Even the most compassionate man might once have had. Greed is one of the things that could not be avoided. Especially in this generation, people have invented great and amazing things that entertains the society. High-tech cellphones, tablets that could be even bigger than your face, dazzling and stunning clothes, head-turning shoes and many more. And we all agree that we dont want to get left-out. Like, each of us must have this and that, and another this and that just to go with the flow with others. But when we have all those stuff that we want, we get possessive of it. We get obsessed. We get attached. We are like prisoners trapped inside the new world that makes us forget the Word of God, the one that tells us that life does not consist of worldly possessions. 

Brothers and sisters, as children of God, let this Gospel be a reminder to humble down ourselves.  Let us not allow greed to take place in our hearts. There are more important things that God has given unto us that could not be replaced by any worldly pleasures: our family, friends and our loved ones. Most of all, do not worry about these worldly pleasures for there are more things to come that God has prepared for us.

-Aa Mascariñas

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SUNDAY REFLECTION (Jn 6:60-69)

        The gospel for today highlights the challenging nature of Jesus' teachings, and the importance of faith in truly understanding and accepting them.       Many of Jesus' own disciples found his words about the necessity of his body and blood for eternal life to be "hard" or difficult to accept. This shows that we humans tend to struggle with concepts that go beyond our natural understanding while Jesus’ teachings often had a deeper spiritual meaning that only Jesus or God knows. This also shows that faith is necessary in order to fully accept Jesus’ teachings, and that it is not enough to simply hear the words - we must also be willing to put our faith in them.      Ultimately, this gospel reminds us that following Jesus requires willingness and faith to understand the challenging truths of his teachings, and to rely on God's Spirit to guide our understanding. It's a call to a deeper level of commitment, beyond the surface level of discipleship. - Adrian
Read more

SUNDAY REFLECTION (Mk 7:18, 14-15, 21-23)

   The Gospel passage addresses how the Pharisees and scribes were upset because Jesus’ followers didn’t follow the tradition of washing their hands before eating. They were more concerned about it because the Pharisees believed this washing was necessary to stay “pure” and “clean”. However, Jesus tells them that they are focusing too much on these man-made rules; they are misguided by it, but Jesus explains that it is not what we do outside but rather what really matters is what is inside our hearts; this includes our thoughts, intentions, and actions that come from within and what really makes a person unclean and impure isn’t how they don’t wash before eating but the bad thoughts and actions that come within their hearts.         In essence, Jesus is teaching us to prioritize our inner transformation over external conformity. Reminding us that purity comes from having a good heart. As 1 Samuel 16:7 says, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lor
Read more

Us and Our God Against the World

Just like when we trust God, we know that He'll always be with us through our hardships. Once we realize that it is not us against the world; rather, it's us and our God against the world, we suddenly realize that we don't have to go through this life alone. We should be accepting of others around us because we were made in God's image. We may overcome previously insurmountable obstacles if we have complete faith that someone will be there for us in our hour of need. - Charlz Racel Dela Cruz
Read more