“Love is always ready to deny itself, to give, sacrifice, just in the measure of its sincerity and intensity. Perfect love is perfect self-forgetfulness. Hence where there is love in a home, unselfishness is the law.”

“If you do not worship God, you worship something, and nine times out of ten it will be yourself. You have a duty to worship God, not because He will be imperfect and unhappy if you do not, but because you will be imperfect and unhappy.” ― Venerable Fulton John Sheen: (1895 – 1979: was an American bishop (later archbishop) of the Catholic Church known for his preaching and especially his work on television and radio.)

Gospel Text: (LK 12:13-21)

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
"Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me."
He replied to him,
"Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?"
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."

I wonder if greed is not mostly a matter of insecurity. When we get greedy, we never have enough. Enough for what? To be happy? To feel safe and secure? To feel powerful? We can seem to forget that our only security comes from God. Our only happiness is in God. And our only real power is the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. St. Teresa of Avila wrote: “Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone is enough.” And when God is enough for us, we find ourselves able to give of ourselves so that others can have the basic necessities of life.

Our life does not consist of the things we have, but the love God has for us. And even that we cannot keep to ourselves, but is meant for us to share. And no matter how much we share, we will never run out. May we trust in the riches of God.