Parable of the rich fool
M Mons. Vincenzo Paglia
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Gospel (Lk 12,13-21) - At that time, one of the crowd said to Jesus: "Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But he replied, "O man, who made me judge or mediator over you?" And he said to them: "Be careful and keep away from all greed because, even if someone is in abundance, his life does not depend on what he possesses." Then he told them a parable: «The countryside of a rich man had produced an abundant harvest. He reasoned to himself: «What will I do, since I have nowhere to put my crops? I will do this – he said –: I will demolish my warehouses and build larger ones and I will collect all the grain and my goods there. Then I will say to myself: My soul, you have many goods at your disposal, for many years; rest, eat, drink and have fun! ». But God said to him: «You fool, this very night your life will be required of you. And what you have prepared, whose will it be? ». So it is with those who accumulate treasures for themselves and do not enrich themselves with God."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Jesus returns to show what the attitude of the disciples towards the goods of the earth should be. The inspiration is offered by a man who asks Jesus to intervene so that two brothers divide the inheritance equally. But he refuses to do so. He is not a master of divisions, but of things that concern God and the human soul. He therefore intervenes not on the inheritance but on the hearts of those two brothers. In fact, it is in their hearts that avarice, greed and self-interest nestle. Goods are external and do not in themselves represent a reason for evil. The hearts of those two brothers - like ours often - were instead weighed down by the desire for money and the desire for possession. In such terrain, divisions and conflicts cannot help but germinate, as Paul reminds Timothy: "The greed for money is the root of all evil". Jesus explains this attitude with the parable of the rich fool. He believed that happiness was achieved by accumulating possessions. There is a dictatorship of materialism that forcefully pushes us to spend our lives possessing and consuming wealth and material goods. Jesus says that in the life of this rich man - but it is the logic of the miser - there is no room for others. However, this rich man forgot the essential thing, which is that no one is the master of his own life. We may possess riches, but we are not masters of life. And happiness does not lie in the possession of goods but in loving God and our brothers. There is a fundamental truth that is true for everyone: we were not created to accumulate wealth but to love and be loved. Love is the radical good of man to be sought in every way. Because love is what remains and what completely satisfies the thirst of the heart. He who lives with love accumulates true treasure for today and for the future.