18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I: Ecclesiastes 1:2,2:21-23 II: Col 3:1-5,9-11

¹³ One of the multitude said to him, "Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me."
¹⁴ But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?"
¹⁵ And he said to them, "Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
¹⁶ And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully;
¹⁷ and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?'
¹⁸ And he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.'
²⁰ But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'
²¹ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

• This passage is referred as the parable of the rich fool and only found in Luke. It was prompted by a dispute between brothers over inheritance.
• (v.13) In the inheritance laws described in Num 27:1-11 and Deut 21:15-17, the father's heritage was passed on to the following chain of beneficiaries: son, daughter, brothers, uncles and nearest relative. The oldest son always got a larger portion of the heritage. According to Roman law, a division of inheritance was required only if both parties requested it. However, Judaic law allowed the division on the petition of a single son (Lk 15:12 - the parable of the lost son).
• (v.14) Jesus was invited to be a judge and a mediator in what nowadays is called a civil case. At that time, there was no distinction between various facets of the law; a rabbi was expected to provide the answers in all cases even in family disputes. Jesus refused to be drawn into the conflict driven by greed but used the opportunity to teach about the trap of possessions.
• (vv.17-19) The words "I" and "my" were repeatedly used to emphasize the egocentric view of the rich man. Family, neighbors and God were all absent from his plan.
• (vv.20-21) God condemned the rich man as a fool because even with careful planning he would not know when the time came, then why he had to accumulate so much wealth.

The purpose of life is not to be rich in material possessions, but to be rich in the sight of God. That is to share the wealth to those in need.

1. When I get involved in a family dispute, what is the driving force to settle the differences?
2. Similar to the rich man in the parable, do I spend so much time and energy to accumulate wealth and a great plan to secure a comfortable future? Do I totally control that future? What do I miss in my plan?
3. How do I treat my possessions? Do I rightfully earn them or consider them as gifts from God? How do I balance between the need and the excessive?

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A synthesis by the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community