8-4-19 18th Sunday: You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?

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 all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

2552 The tenth commandment forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and their attendant power.

2536 The tenth commandment forbids greed and the desire to amass earthly goods without limit. It forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and their attendant power. It also forbids the desire to commit injustice by harming our neighbor in his temporal goods:

From “The Great Crusade of Mercy” Testimony of Catalina Rivas (CM-112:5,6)

5)  ….I am saying that to possess everything one desires is harmful to human beings and makes them slaves to material things.  That is where the abomination lies for Me: it lies in forgetting Me in order to adore false gods purely out of greed.

6) Attachment to material things is what transforms the spirits of human beings, because all things in themselves are the same.  Excellence in things brings about adulation on the one hand and complacency on the other, so that between those sharp swords, human beings become weak, are brought to their knees, and fall…

From “The Great Crusade of Love” Testimony of Catalina Rivas (CL-47:1)

1)  I shall give food sparingly to the greedy person and shall put abundance on the table of the humble one.  He who hides behind selfishness will not find Me satisfied, and I shall be generous with whoever extends his arms. It is My eternal Justice that regulates the world and, although mitigated by mercy, it is always known and valued.

Each week we will be presenting a portion of the following Sunday’s readings, and linking it to relevant parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and messages from the Testimony of Catalina.  Pay special attention to the italicized underlined sections. This Sunday it is asked, What kind of soil will you be for the word of God? We hope this is inspiring and educational. Any comments you have are certainly welcomed.