18th Sunday 22

On what does human life depend? What is really the most important thing in a person’s life? These are questions that perhaps sound too pathetic or too serious to spend more time on, especially when the holiday season is in full swing. However, Jesus today gives an answer to them. Once again.  For behold, a man came to Him who had a dishonest brother – a brother who had deceived him. He did not want to share his wealth and therefore what was due to him. Jesus should take his side, comfort him, concede his point. Meanwhile, His reaction is surprising and forceful: ” My friend…who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?”                In saying these words, Jesus wants to draw our attention to the fact that it is not a question of whether this man has the law on his side, but of life.  Jesus takes mundane matters to a completely different, spiritual level:” Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns…” Our lives do not depend on what we own. This truth is well known and yet so little practised even by Christians.  Many people act in their lives like the hero of the parable Jesus mentions. It focuses its attention on having, but having in order to rest, eat, drink and use life, paying little attention to the fact that there is more to life than having, eating, drinking and using life.  This attitude leads one to focus on oneself and become selfish.       This is important because today’s Gospel is the beginning of Christ’s lengthy reflections on the harmful effects of greed in the lives of the disciples. And in turn, greed is fear for oneself. Greed is also a sign of lack of trust in God.  This attitude is to say to myself that money will take better care of me than God. And yet this is not true. Furthermore, greed makes you want to own more and more.  When you have more, you want some more, and so on and so forth. He wants to eat, drink and use life. Behind this attitude is a ‘black hole’ that absorbs everything around it and is never satisfied.     Jesus speaks plainly of this man as a fool. To build my life on money, my greatness on how much I own. To plan ahead how much I will earn, what I will get out of it. To make life “business plans”. To have a super life, so that you can satisfy your desires.                         Let us note, the futility of such behaviour is shown by what is happening around us. We see that in today’s uncertain times of the threat of war, inflation, when money is losing its value, people, like the Ukrainian refugees, just want to survive….    It is worth, listening to this Gospel today, asking myself what my life depends on. What really matters most in it – God or money? Am I not such a fool in today’s parable? Jesus gives us the answer today. What matters is whether we hear it…