Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C - 31st July 2022
Gospel Luke 12: 13–21
A man in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance. ‘My friend,’ he replied, ‘who appointed me your judge, or arbiter of your claims?’ Then he said to them, ‘Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a person’s life is not made secure by what they own, even when they have more than they need.’
Then he told them a parable: ‘There once was a rich man who having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I will do; I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.” But God said to him, ‘Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?’ So it is when a person stores up treasure for themselves in place of making themselves rich in the sight of God.’
Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach
I settle myself ... perhaps in front of a candle or a cross. I may repeat a favourite phrase, or close my eyes. ‘What will you show me today, Lord?’
I read the passage from Luke’s Gospel. It may be familiar, yet I try to approach it as if for the first me. What strikes me? Maybe there is a phrase I have not ‘heard’ before.
A man is asking Jesus to settle a dispute within his family. I pause. Can I see parallels between this situation and my own?
Have I ever asked the Lord to take sides in a conflict around me?
I speak to the Lord, honestly, telling him what is in my heart. I listen. Perhaps I am drawn to reflect on the parable that follows.
How much does wealth matter to me?
What are my own riches, material and spiritual?
How much do I share them with others?
I consider how everything – wealth or poverty, success or failure – has the potential to lead me to respond more fully to God’s love for me.
If it feels right, I ask for the grace to lead a life which will make me rich in the sight of God.
When I am ready, I go forward ‘In the name of the Father ...’
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