There’s nothing like moving – whether into a new home or a new office – to make us aware of how much “stuff” we can accumulate. As we box it, discard it, or give it away, we might wonder why we held onto all this stuff for so long. Did we really need all of this?
As we listen to Jesus today he does not rail against the rich but warns against greed. The Greek word here is pleonexia, meaning the desire of gaining more and more, so much so that one’s security rests with having so many possessions. Jesus tells of a rich man who believes that because he has so many things stored up for himself, he can relax and eat, drink and be merry. It is a chant of hopelessness as it leads us to ask, is that all there is to life, the accumulation of stuff?
Jesus invites us into a simpler lifestyle in which we distinguish necessities from luxuries. More than this, though, he reminds us of what is most important in our lives, namely our relationships with God and with our neighbor. We should love God, our Creator, above all things, and with all our heart, mind and soul. And we should love our neighbor as ourselves. St. Ambrose said, “If you have two shirts in your closet, one belongs to you and the other to the person with no shirt.”