What Are You Building Your Life Around?

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

There is something almost uncomfortable about today’s Gospel because the man who comes to Jesus does not seem to be asking a bad question. He wants his share of the inheritance. He wants what he thinks is fair. But Jesus sees something deeper. He sees that the real danger is not the money. The real danger is what the heart is beginning to build its life around. And that gives us the theme for today: you can spend your whole life building bigger barns and still end up with an empty soul.

The rich man in the parable is successful. His land produces abundantly. His problem is not that he worked hard or planned well. His problem is that his whole world becomes smaller and smaller until it contains only one person: himself. Listen to the way he speaks: “My crops, my barns, my grain, my goods.” There is no gratitude, no neighbour, no God, no question of what all this abundance is for. And that is the danger. Possessions are not always the problem. Sometimes the problem is when possessions begin to possess us.

Jesus calls him a fool, not because he had wealth, but because he confused having more with being secure. And we can do the same thing in different ways. We can say, “Once I earn enough, then I’ll be at peace. Once I get the house, the promotion, the savings, the recognition, then I’ll be okay.” But the finish line keeps moving. There is always one more barn to build. One more thing to achieve. One more reason to postpone generosity, prayer, family, rest, or the things that actually make us human.

So maybe the question today is not simply, “How much do I own?” Maybe it is, “What am I depending on to make me feel safe?” Because whatever we believe will save us, we will serve. If I think money will save me, I will organise my life around money. If I think success will save me, I will sacrifice everything for success. But if I really believe that my life is held by God, then I can live differently. I can be grateful. I can be generous. I can stop acting as though everything depends on me.

At the end, Jesus says the real tragedy is being rich for oneself but not rich toward God. That phrase is worth sitting with. To be rich toward God is to live with open hands. It is to know that everything we have is gift, and therefore everything we have can become grace for someone else. The question is not whether we have barns. The question is whether our barns have become our god. Because one day, none of what we store up will matter nearly as much as who we became while we were storing it.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, free me from the illusion that more will always make me secure. Teach me to receive what I have with gratitude, to use it with wisdom, and to share it with generosity. Keep my heart from becoming crowded with things and empty of You. Make me rich in what lasts. Amen.

– Homily by Rev. Fr. Patrick Agbeko