“Abraham did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief; rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully convinced that what God had promised he was also able to do. That is why it was credited to him as righteousness. But, it was not for him alone that it was written that it was credited to him; it was also for us.”
This passage in the first reading for mass today, from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, explains very clearly where Abraham’s treasure in life was. His deep and abiding faith in God was not formed quickly, but developed day by day, year by year, like a solid oak tree that puts down deep roots in good soil. Abraham’s relationship with God the Father was formed slowly over a long period of time and his faith in God withstood the test of time.
Good friendships are like that too. It takes a while to get to know a person, to know if you can trust them and be sure of their friendship even when things are not going so well. After a certain amount of time, you get to know your friend well enough to know how they will react to things, and whether they will actually do what they say they will, or not. The bond between close friends, and especially spouses, is so close that you almost know each other’s thoughts. Sometimes a married couple or best friends will even complete the other person’s sentences because they know how they think so well. Abraham’s relationship with God was closer than this. Abraham’s bond with God was stronger than any human bond and the depth of this bond was so deep that Abraham knew how God would act, with certainty.
Abraham’s deep and abiding belief in God, which was free from all doubt, was credited to him as righteousness. Now, compare this to the young man in today’s gospel, who demanded that Jesus tell his brother to share the inheritance with him. Perhaps this young man did have a rightful claim to part of the inheritance that his brother was withholding from him, but his attitude was the problem. Instead of listening to the words that Jesus was teaching and learning from them, he had his mind set on stewing over the problem with his inheritance. Jesus answered this young man and warned the crowd at the same time to, “take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
Jesus wasn’t all that upset with this young man though, because he called him “friend” and then went on to explain the spiritual reality that he was trying to cope with. We do not know if his brother was in the crowd or not, but the parable Jesus told was actually meant for both of them. Jesus didn’t necessarily tell it just to correct the young man that asked the question. The parable addressed both of the brothers and the crowd as well.
He told the crowds about a rich man who had produced a much larger crop than usual, so much so that he didn’t have the room to store all the grain. He decided to tear down the barns and build bigger barns to store his grain and then quit working for many years, to rest, eat, drink and be merry. But God called him a fool and told him that he would die that night and to whom would all his things go to then? The rich man stored up treasure for himself, but was not rich in what matters to God.
This is probably what the brother who held onto the entire inheritance was thinking. It was probably how his parents had lived too. Work hard and save everything you can so you can retire early and enjoy the rest of your life. The problem is that people sometimes do not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of their labor and everything they spent their entire life on is given to another. It would have been much better to have spent their life developing a relationship with God and a deeper relationship with their family and friends, because these are the treasures that endure for eternal life.
This happens to a lot of people who work too many hours on the job, trying to make more money and save it so they can retire early and enjoy the rest of their lives. The problem is that their focus in life is on themselves and their money, not God or their family and friends. At the end of their lives, they will regret it if they neglected their relationship with God or with their family because they were overly focused on material possessions. They may have missed so many things in their children’s lives, or their spouse’s life for an example, that money just can’t buy. You can’t get the time back and your life will have been a waste if you do not heed the Lord’s voice in today’s gospel.
Our lives here on earth are so short. Eternity is hard for our minds to actually grasp, but it is real. We can’t take our money into eternity. It is no good there. Our love for God, our family and our friends are the only things that last. Today might be a good day to ask ourselves honestly, what is the real focus of our lives?
Daily Mass Readings:
Rom 4: 20-25 / Lk 1: 69-75 / Lk 12: 13-21
