Rich Man...Poor Man?

Gospel Reflection for October 20, 2025

Gospel

Luke 12: 13-21

Now one out of the crowd said to Jesus,
“Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
But He said to him,
“Man, who has appointed me as your judge or arbitrator over you?”
And He said to the crowd,
“Take heed and guard yourselves from all covetousness, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Then He spoke a parable to them, saying, “The land of a certain rich man brought forth abundant crops, and he began to take thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, for I have no room to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him,
‘Thou fool, this night do they demand thy soul of thee; and the things that thou hast provided, whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich as regards God.” (Lk 12:13-21 NAB)

Covetousness, greed, avarice…are all terms that apply to today’s Gospel reading. In the midst of Jesus doing His ministerial, instructive work to the disciples, we encounter an interruptive, pushy man, concerned about getting his half of the inheritance from his brother. Additionally, the man wants Jesus to step in and arbitrate with the man’s brother to see that he receives it. Obviously annoyed, Jesus tells the man that He isn’t going to act as his personal arbitrator (although Rabbis at that time did commonly take on that role) and instead proceeds to warn everyone about the sin of greed.

Having things, even in abundance, is not, in itself, sinful. What is sinful is what Jesus has seen happen to men when they put all of their security in mere possessions. Now, of course, Jesus loves both the rich and poor, but unfortunately there are a great many more pitfalls for those who have much. The following will be some thoughts for consideration in the light of today’s Gospel:

Sharing often becomes forgotten in those who are so enamored by their own possessions and the joy they bring. But sharing with those in need is an exercise of loving thy neighbor, and thus, charity. Of course, there are many very generous rich people who indeed are doing the Lord’s work in helping the less fortunate. Luckily for them, they do have a sense of the eternal—their magnanimity reflecting the supernatural virtue of charity. Also, many who find their greatest comfort and security in temporal possessions are not keeping a proper telos in mind as it concerns a person’s true eternal security found only in salvation. They forget that God is still providential in the lives of all men, and thus, complete control over one’s life is an illusion often created by an abundance of possessions. In the “Parable of the Rich Fool” in today’s Gospel, Christ reminds that all of one’s possessions will no longer be theirs when one’s soul is called upon to face the eternal. Did you store up riches in heaven or only on earth? This is the implied question our dear Lord is asking all of us.

“Rest, eat drink and be merry,” is certainly how many live their lives. And although there are certainly occasions for these actions, as Christians we are to seek the golden mean of virtue in all of our actions, guard against idolatry or over attachment to created things, help our fellow brothers and sisters whenever we can, and faithfully know that all true comfort, joy and security is connected to eternal ends—ends in our loving Redeemer and Savior, Jesus Christ.