Luke 12:13-21 NRSVue

¹³Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” ¹⁶Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. ¹⁷And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ ²⁰But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ ²¹So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

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Some thoughts on this scripture

Reflection
St Ignatius was a mystic who had very enriching ideas about God and about ourselves. He saw God as the great Lover and ourselves as God’s beloveds. He saw too that God gives us everything and even wants to give his very self to us, so far as he can. Lord, these are shattering ideas: let me not try to tame them but joyously live out of them.

Reflection
Lord, give us imaginations big enough to reach up to yours. But make us grounded enough to want only to love and humbly serve others as best we can. Help us to do everything for the greater glory of God.