The apostle Paul tries to reorient our life so that it does not lose its ultimate meaning which is the truest one: “turn your thoughts to the things above, not to those of the earth”. It is certainly not a question of an escape from the real through a mystification of the real, but of the ability to give the right weight to everything to escape the cynical consideration of the Qoèlet according to which the normal and acceptable vanity of things risks being seasoned with “pains and painful annoyances “. The evidence with which the Qoèlet affirms that whoever will have to leave his part to another makes even more admirable the way in which the Lord avoids the request to act as arbiter in the division of inheritance between these two brothers. The Lord does not shy away from the duty and care of justice, but is concerned with opening our eyes to the essentials of life that we easily risk losing sight of the horizon within which life is called to play: while warehouses are being built more and more ” large “, the life that takes on its meaning in relationships and sharing risks shrinking. The soliloquy of the personage in the parable sounds like this: “I will demolish my warehouses and build larger ones and gather all my grain and goods” (12:18). Qoelet’s soliloquy seems to want to gloss over the rich owner’s purpose with a thundering: “This too is vanity” (Qo 2, 23). On his part, the apostle warns us against the risk of flattening ourselves here on earth, while we are called to share the gift and the responsibility of living there in a conscious and united way: “seek the things above” (Col 3: 2).

Commentary by b. Michael David, osb Novalesa Abbey

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey