29th Week in Ordinary Time

One’s life does not consist of possessions. 

Of all the tools we use to evaluate people, measuring them according to their wealth is one of the more dehumanizing ones. We even use terms like “net worth,” as if money equals dignity! That’s how it was in Jesus’ day as well, and that’s why he told this sobering parable. He wanted to shine a light on our misguided “possession obsession.”

The spiritual writer Fr. Henri Nouwen had this to say about the way we value people based on their wealth: “As long as we continue to live as if we are what we do, what we have, and what other people think about us, we will remain filled with judgments, opinions, evaluations, and condemnations. We will remain addicted to putting people and things in their ‘right’ place” (Life of the Beloved).

Measuring people according to their wealth is tempting because it’s simple. Numbers don’t lie, so it’s easy to use them as benchmarks of success. It’s also tempting because we tend to equate wealth with happiness. But these measures actually degrade a person’s dignity. It’s unfair to reduce anyone, rich or poor, to numbers and an inventory of possessions. That tells us nothing about their inner life: their unique personality and gifts, their joys and hopes, their relationship with the Lord.

Jesus didn’t tell this parable to scold us. Rather, he wants to show us the breadth and depth of the life he created us for! He wants to tell us that we have a dignity and worth that can never be reduced to a balance sheet. Created in his Father’s image, we have priceless gifts like a fathomless intellect, a vivid imagination, and an inherent ability to recognize—and thirst for—his unfailing love. When we grasp how great these gifts are, we begin to value “the immeasurable riches of his . . . kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). And that kindness can bring us to our knees in awe and gratitude and worship.

Today, ask the Lord to help you see your true worth and the worth of the people around you. Ask him to help you become more “rich in what matters to God” (Luke 12:21).

“Jesus, please show me that you are my greatest treasure!”

Ephesians 2:1-10
Psalm 100:1-5
Luke 12:13-21