Readings: Ecc 2:21-23; Col 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21

Humans can live in a way where they are constantly striving to have more. The accumulation of ‘stuff’ is proof of our capacity, our status. While the names and type of ‘stuff’ accrued has varied over the centuries, the desire, dare I say, addiction has not. Our society has a myriad ways of enhancing the externals. In so doing we forget a fundamental fact about humanity – we are human beings not human doings. Better to live out the message of Oscar Romero of El Salvador: ‘Strive not to have more but to be more’.

This lesson emerges from today’s readings. In the first reading, Ecclesiastes points towards the foolishness of striving to have more since we lose it all at death, along with the lack of appreciation of those who have not earned things. Colossians reminds us that all externals and all our desires are as nothing. What matters, rather, is our connection in Christ. 

These points are amplified in today’s Gospel, beginning with Jesus saying ‘one’s life does not consist of possessions’ (Luke 12:15). In case the point has not been made sufficiently, Jesus tells a parable outlining how pointless it is to store up material wealth rather than being ‘rich in what matters to God’. What is that kind of rich? Rich in terms of doing justice and being in right relationships with those around us.