One’s life does not consist of possessions

One’s life does not consist of possessions. 

Jesus has just spoken at length to a large crowd about the riches that await those who believe in him.   He has just finished telling them not to worry about what their future would look like, because God would care for them.   But then, someone interrupts.   “Tell my brother to share my father’s inheritance with me,” he demands.   It’s a wonder Jesus didn’t groan in frustration!   Aside from being rude, the interruption demonstrates the kind of distractions that keep people impoverished.

Jesus taught that it is not lack of material possessions that makes us poor.   Rather, it’s preoccupation with what and how much we have—and how to get more of it—that impoverishes us.   Why?   Because it moves our attention away from the riches God has for us.   It shifts our thoughts and efforts from serving our Creator and focuses us on created things instead.   Jesus doesn’t say material possessions are bad or to be despised.   He is clear, however, that “one’s life does not consist of possessions” (Luke 12:15).

What are the things that “matter to God” (Luke 12:21)?   First, that we would know his love for us personally.   He created us out of love, and he loves us always.   Second, that we matter to him—so much so that we can trust him always to take care of us.   Third, that Jesus died and rose so that we could experience God’s transforming grace in our lives.   And finally, that confident in his love for us, we would dedicate ourselves to loving and serving the people around us, especially those in need.

These are the riches we can steep ourselves in no matter how rich or poor we are materially.   Every time we pray, we can tell God how much we love him.   Better still, we can hear him tell us how much he loves us!   Every passage of Scripture can become another sign of that love and show us how to deepen our experience of it.   Reading the lives of the saints or spiritual books, attending daily Mass—through all these ways, we can store up for ourselves all the things that matter.

Word Among Us