There is a fundamental distortion in the two brothers who question Jesus: pleonexia, that is, the immoderate desire, greed, selfishness that pushes them to argue over the inheritance. Jesus does not condemn a request for arbitration (it was part of the rabbinical ministry) but he warns against the illusion that wants to make security coincide with the possession of things. The more I have, the more secure I feel; the more I accumulate, therefore, the more I guarantee myself for tomorrow. But is it really like that? Jesus tells a parable in which he speaks of a man who is both rich and foolish. Afrôn («foolish») can also be rendered as «headless», «imprudent», «without discernment». This man has become rich and now wants to enjoy it. But he does not know how much time he has left to live. Death, willingly or not, will force him to leave everything behind sooner or later. In short, one cannot be guaranteed security by mere accumulation. It is foolish. Sirach also said it: “There is someone who grows rich through dint of care and greed, and this is his reward: when he says, ‘At last I have found rest, now I will enjoy my possessions in peace,’ he does not know how much time he has left: he will have to leave everything and die” (11:18-19). The same goes for Qoheleth, who opens the liturgy of the Word today (Ecclesiastes 1:2). But then, how can we be healed from this disease of pleonexia? Jesus offers us the remedy in the final line: “So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Lk 12:21). Jesus does not condemn wealth, but accumulation for oneself. It is the for itself that must be converted and converted into a for God. It is necessary to give wealth a different orientation. But enriching, for God, does not mean to the advantage of God but according to his logic. And this logic, as we know, is in the direction of solidarity. Goods must therefore be shared. God, Paul would say, reasoned in solidarity when he decided to become man, and among men a servant to then give himself up to the point of dying on the cross (cf. Phil 2:6-11). This logic was successful, although considered foolishness and scandal by the world. For this, also for this, the Son after the humiliation was over-exalted and received the name of Kyrios, Lord of heaven and earth. Have we made Christ’s thought our own? Have we consciously entered into his feelings?

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey