Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

There is no greater presence to adore and no greater desire to fulfill than to be close to the Lord. The light we gather in His presence is what we carry with us into the world.

Gospel according to Luke 12:13-21

“Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, who sent me to be a judge or an arbitrator over you?’ And Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ Then Jesus told them a parable: ‘The land of a man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops? Then he said, “I will do this: I will pill down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to myself, “Soul, you have ample goods load up for many years, relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, “You fool! This very night, your life is being demanded of you. And the tings you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.’”
The Parable of the Rich Fool - Rembrandt (1627)

Reflections

In 1812, the Grimm brothers recorded a children’s fairy tale, which is not a fairy tale at all. The title of the story is “The Fisherman and His Wife.” (1) 

The story is about a poor fisherman who lives in a dirty shack with his wife. One day, when he goes fishing, he pulls out a flounder, a flat sea fish, who begs him to spare his life because he is a bewitched prince. The fisherman lets it go and the fish swims back to the bottom of the sea. Upon returning home, the fisherman’s wife, Isobelle, asks him if he has caught anything. He tells her about the flounder, and his sad story. The wife then convinces the fisherman to return to the waters and to command the fish to rise from the waters to request a wish to be fulfilled in exchange for letting it live. The fisherman is reluctant at first, but at the insistence of his wife, returns to the shore and calls to the fish, who grants the request that they live in a cottage. The fisherman returns home and finds everything as it was requested. However, his wife is not content. She demands to live in a palace. The fisherman returns to the fish who fulfills the request. However, soon after the fisherman returns home, his wife is again unhappy, for she imagines that if the fish can grant all their wishes, they could be kings of the land. The fisherman hesitates more and more each time, but his wife demands that he returns immediately and asks this favor from the fish. The day after they become king and queen, the wife wishes to become emperor. Her next wish is to become the Pope. Finally, she wishes to become like God and influence the movement of the Sun and the Moon. At this final wish, which is impossible for the flounder to grant, they both find themselves back in their old dwelling. 

The story is about greed and amassing, gaining earthly possessions and riches. A slightly remote parallel exists in the story of the Gensis, where Adam and Eve eat from the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of God and Evil, after the serpent tempts Eve to consume the fruit to with the promise that they will become like God (Genesis 2-3). Although Adam and Eve were created in the image and likeness of God, after this action, Evil entered the world, and had power to cause death and suffering, disrupting the harmony of life in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden and, according to this ancient narrative, became the parents of the human race. 

With powerful and vivid images, the story tells us that God created human beings in Original Justice: “They enjoyed grace, communion with God and eternal life.” (2) With free will, and in their freedom, humans gave in to temptation by Satan. (3) Their fallen nature led to expulsion from Eden and introduced suffering in the world. Through the account of redemption in history, God’s plan has been to defeat Evil and to restore justice, peace and harmony in the world for all humanity. (4)

 Through the history of the Jewish people, we follow the account of how the children of God came to recognize and to communicate with God and how He has established covenants with them and gave them Laws and teachings to collaborate in the plan of redemption. In the New Testament, we read about Jesus, the Son of God, who by dying on the cross for all sinners, won victory over Evil for eternity and established a new covenant of Love, written in the hearts of His people (Jer 31:31-34). The ultimate hope is the second coming of the Messiah, at the end of times, when God’s redemptive plan will be complete. (5)

In our concrete historical reality and context, God is asking us to be obedient and vigilant to follow His commandments, to love Him and to serve each other. This is how we collaborate with the plan of salvation. Sinful ways, such as pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, take way from the Kingdom of God. (6) They are manifestations of human inclinations in body and mind that represent what is fallible and what is final. The amassing of earthly pleasures all points toward the self. They serve self-aggrandization, the satisfaction of wishful desires and fancies. The dimension of the spirit with help from the Spirit is oriented toward accumulating that what is pleasing in the eyes of God: good deeds and relationships that heal the world, instead of creating divisions and strife. (7) 

God has poured his blessing in abundance on all humanity and on the earth. By looking beyond our self interest and giving, we can multiply these gifts for all and contribute to a thriving human society. This does not mean that we ignore our needs, but that we share from the abundance so that others can have their fill as well. This is the principle of social justice and fair distribution. (8)

So, why does Jesus rebuke the young man, who comes to Him to plead for fairness in the distribution of the family inheritance? Someone said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me!” (Luke 12:13). Jesus did not negate the request, he answered with another question, instructing, prompting, beckoning, or pointing the man’s gaze to His mission from above and beyond: “Friend, who set me to be a judge and arbitrator over you?” (Luke 12:13) 

We recall from Martha and Mary’s story of two weeks ago, that Jesus did not deny the importance of mundane work (Luke 10:38-42). He respected and valued Martha’s efforts to prepare a meal for Him and his disciples; but he gently pointed to the overall significance of something needed beyond; time with the Lord; nurturing and cultivating a relationship with God. 

The same message appears today in his reply to the man: “…Be on your guard against all kind of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15). The Lord was calling this man to see beyond his immediate concerns about the finances to something that is far more important, but as long as his mind was fixated on the immediate problem, He would have missed. To make this point even more salient, Jesus   used a parable: A man had accumulated so much wealth that he said to himself: “I will tear down my barns and build larger ones.” ... And store all my possessions there…and then eat, drink, and be merry…because I am now safe. (Luke 12:18-19). “You fool!’ continued Jesus, “…this very night your life is being demanded of you.’” (Luke 12:20). 

Here Jesus reminds us of the brevity of time and the certainly of our physical passing from this world. Whoever focuses on storing up earthly riches but is poor with respect to treasures in heaven, which consist of meaningful actions that one took in this world, will be counted as poor in a larger realm, the Kingdom of God.

Today’s Gospel confronts us with the certainty of our vulnerability, fallibility, and finiteness. In the face of it, it makes sense to trust in God, to lift our gaze, and to see what we can store for eternity. 

How can we store up treasures in heaven? We should focus on actions that reflect values in the eyes of God, such as generosity, kindness, benevolence, and goodness, and make profit His love which is showered upon each one of us. (9)

The man in this Gospel passage may have gotten a cold shower to jolt him to life from sluggishness and overconcern with earthly goods instead of seeking the justice of God. 

Speaking about Jesus, Pope Francis remarked that “His wounds are the pathways that God has opened for us to enter into his tender love and actually ‘touch’ who he is.” Continuing to explain on the closeness of God to us through Jesus, the Pope stated, “His wounds are open channels between him and us, shedding mercy upon misery. His wounds are the pathways that God has opened up for us to enter into his tender love and actually ‘touch’ who he is…In adoring and kissing his wounds, we come to realize that in his tender love all our weaknesses are accepted…This happens at every Mass, where Jesus offers us his wounded and risen Body. We touch him, and he touches our lives. He makes heaven come down to us. His radiant wounds dispel the darkness we carry within.” (9)

There is no greater presence to adore and no greater desire to fulfill than to be close to the Lord. The light we gather in His presence is what we carry with us into the world. 

At the end of July, Pope Leo addressed a few words to the faithful of the Cathedral of St. Pancras in Albano, Italy, about how to grow our relationship with God during the Summer Holidays:

“During the Summer we have time in which to gather our thoughts, reflect and also to travel and spend time with each other. Let us make good use of this by leaving behind the whirlwind of commitments and worries in order to savour a few moments of peace, of reflection, taking time as well to visit other places and to share in the joy of seeing others—as I am doing here today. Let us make summer an opportunity to care for others, to get to know each other by exchanging ideas and lending a listening ear, for these are expressions of love and that is something that we all need.” (10)

References:

  1. Grimm, J. & Grimm, W. (1973). The Fisherman and his Wife. In L. Segal & R. Jarrell (Trans.), The Juniper Tree, and other Tales from Grimm (pp. 94-112). New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
  2. Catholic Online (2025). Adam and Eve. Retrieved from: catholic.org. Accessed: July 30, 2025.
  3. Catechism of the Catholic Church (2025). Paragraph 7. The Fall. Retrieved from; www.vatican.va. Accessed: July 30, 2025. 
  4. Catechism of the Catholic Church (1997-2025). Sections 599-605. Retrieved from: www.catholicculture.org. Accessed: July 30, 2025.
  5. Barbour, H. (2021). God’s Final Victory is Coming. Retrieved from: www.catholic.com Accessed: July 30, 2025.
  6. CNA (2025). Lesson 6: On Sin and Its Kinds. Catholic News Agency. Retrieved from: www.cnewsagency.com. Accessed; July 30, 2025.
  7. Catechism of the Catholic Church (1997-2025). Article 2: Grace and Justification. Retrieved from: www.catholicculture.org. Accessed: July 30, 2025.
  8. USCCB (2025). Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching. Retrieved from: www.usccb.org. Accessed: July 30, 2025. 
  9. Brockhaus, H. (2021). Pope Francis: Christ’s wounds shower ‘mercy upon misery.” Retrieved from: cnewsagency.com. Accessed: July 30, 2025.
  10. Pope Leo XIV (2025). Pope Leo’s Advice for Growing in Relationship with God during Summer Holidays. Cathedral of Saint Pancras, Albano. Sunday Mass, July 23, 2025. Albano Lazaile, Italy. Retrieved from: https://bit.ly/ewtnvatican. Accessed on; July 30, 2025.