Riches

18th Sunday, C

“Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God” (Luke 12:21) warns Jesus in the gospel today.

So how do we get or make sure we are rich in what matters to God? Well, I think the first step is to recognize that we already are! After all, as St. Paul puts it, Jesus Christ “for your sake became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

How are we already rich in what matters to God? In many ways, of course, but I’ll note just two big ones.

irst, we are rich in destiny. By passing through death in our humanity and then revealing the Resurrection, Jesus Christ has blazed a trail for us through death to new life. The life of heaven, which is the fullest and richest of all created things, is ours. All we have to do is surrender to it, surrender to the mercy of God, the salvation that God is just dying (literally!) to give us. Our salvation matters to God, indeed it is his greatest will and desire, so therefore we who become heirs of heaven in Jesus Christ are very rich in our destiny of heaven.

Second, we are rich in grace. Consider the sacrament of the Eucharist, which we are celebrating on this Sunday morning. We come and offer our hopes and worries, our joys and sufferings—indeed our whole selves, if we are willing—on this altar, and Jesus Christ unites us to his one Sacrifice of the Cross that we might be caught up into the very salvation of the world. And from this Sacrifice we receive the Body of Christ, broken on the Cross and risen into the new life of the Resurrection, into our bodies. What greater richness could there be than to welcome God himself into our bodies and our lives?

Of course, rich as we are, one could always be richer…

If indeed we wish to be even richer in what matters to God, we can look at our charity—that is, our love of God and of neighbor. If we love someone, we want to be close to them, to spend time with them. And so it is with the love of God. If I want to exercise and strengthen my love of God, the answer is taking time for prayer. Prayer takes all kinds of forms, but it’s more important that we pray than how we pray. Take some time for prayer, tell God that you love him and that you are grateful for all his blessings and how much he loves you. As St. Paul says in the second reading, that great Easter slogan, “seek the things that are above.” (Colossians 3:1)

If we love him, God, who is love, will come to dwell in us richly. And with the divine love living within us, we become empowered to love our neighbor with the very love God has for them. Patience and kindness flow from the love God, so let these be among the graces we seek, and we will find ourselves ever richer in what matters to God, for what matters to God is our charity, our love.

So let us rejoice in the Lord this Sunday, let us be glad for the riches we have in Him and his Love. Let us give thanks for the life of heaven that awaits us and the grace of God’s presence we receive here at Mass. Let us make time for prayer, that the Love of God may find a home and grow within us. And let us become little mirrors of that Love of God, reflecting it to those around us. Amen.