Monday 19th October – Monday of week 29 of the year

Reflection: Luke 12:13-21

ARE YOU RICH?

I could possibly guess what your answer would be to the question above, but I would not try to. The first question you may want to answer is what is the definition of the word “rich”? Or you may ask yourself, what does it mean to be rich? Looking at today’s gospel reading you will find God’s own perspective of the word “rich”. You will be amazed to discover that what God may regard to be “true riches” is different from what man may think it to be.

Frankly speaking, is there anything wrong in being rich in the worldly sense of it? The answer is definitely NO. However, many people have allowed their riches to trap their souls to the extent that their whole being revolves around their possessions. Also, many people keep on storing riches whereas people are hungry and languishing in misery around them. This was the fault of the “rich fool” in today’s reading. He trusted in his riches so much that he forgot that his life and happiness did not depend on them but on God. True riches lies not in physical possession but in you union with God. How rich your relationship with God is what determines how rich you really are.

As children of God, we should use our riches to glorify God. All we have and all we are proceed from God, therefore there is no reason to boast. Let us go out today and use what we have to bless others. God will surely replenish you in unquantifiable measure.

PRAYER: O Lord give me the grace to be a blessing to all around me. Amen.

KNOW YOUR FAITH: CCC 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”

HIDE A TREASURE: “Do people gain anything if they win the whole world but lose their own life?” Mark 8:36 GNB

Today’s readings: Romans 4: 20-25; Lk.1:69-75 (canticle); Luke 12:13-21