This Week in Focus

“That is yours, this is mine!” This ancient saying marks the beginning of an attitude of discord. We see it active in disagreements among family members, in communities that are gated for fear of theft, and in restrictive immigration policies. In business, profitmaking is one thing, but the maximization of profit at all costs is something else. “What is yours is paltry, what is mine is abundant.” The attitude of seeing the world divided between the “haves” and “have-nots” begins the dangerous cycle of violence.

The gospel today teaches a lesson about greed. The rich man hoards his harvest into large barns in order to “eat, drink, be merry.” His possessions give him security and a way to define himself and enjoy life. Yet fear and insecurity plague his soul and drive him to withering greed.

What fears lurk in the dark regions of my own heart? What kinds of “securities” am I hoarding into barns for an uncertain future? For some of us, it is prestige, entitlement, wealth, or recognition. And our fear, which gives birth to greed, affects all our relationships.

Jesus challenges greedy behavior and systems that see the poor as “objects.” What matters to God is who we are, not what we have. We are called to remember Jesus’ words: “What you have done to the least…you have done it to me.” In the Eucharist we celebrate—and share—the table of plenty.

Rev. Robert F. Dueweke, OSA