Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Tone 1; The Entrance into the Temple of our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary
Ephesians 5:9-19; Hebrew 9:1-7; Luke 12:16-21; Luke 10:38-42, 11:27-28
Feast of the Mother of God. Holy Day of Obligation. Nativity Fast.
Read Luke 12:16-21
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
I have no place to store my crops.
We could say that the man in the Parable has a First World problem. Compared to people in the Third World, almost everyone in the First World is rich. We have lots of stuff. What to do with it? Thank God for Thrift Stores and Value Village. Yes, those are places where one should donate regularly. If we have clothes that we have not worn for 3 years, they should go on the donate pile. The same could be said about our plates, bowls, glasses and cups.
An elderly couple that moves from a house to a condominium or an apartment goes through dramatic detachment. They are sometimes hurt by the fact that their children do not want their stuff. Not their books and not their art. Why do children not want their parents’ stuff? Because they have too much of their own stuff already. But moving to a considerably smaller place is one of the most generous things you can do for your children. Their job of clearing your last place of residence will be that much easier.
This practice of detaching ourselves from our stuff by parting with it is good for our souls. We leave this life with no stuff!