Reading 1
Rom 4:20-25
Brothers and sisters:Abraham did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief;rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully convinced that what God had promised he was also able to do.That is why it was credited to him as righteousness.But it was not for him alone that it was written that it was credited to him;it was also for us, to whom it will be credited,who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification.
Gospel
Lk 12:13-21
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”He replied to him,“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”Then he said to the crowd,“Take care to guard against all greed,for though one may be rich,one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
Then he told them a parable.“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,for I do not have space to store my harvest?’And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.There I shall store all my grain and other goodsand I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,you have so many good things stored up for many years,rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’But God said to him,‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himselfbut is not rich in what matters to God.”
Meditation: Luke 12:13-21
A man appeals to Jesus for justice against a brother who isn’t sharing with him, but Jesus doesn’t intervene.
Instead, he cautions the questioner against the poison of greed, telling a story about a barn-building fool who “stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God” (Luke 12:21).
The first North American martyrs, whose feast we celebrate today, are great examples of men who were “rich in what matters to God.” They gave up privilege, comfort, and even life’s basic necessities in order to answer God’s call to spread his love in a new land.
As a young seminarian, John de Brebeuf was so sickly that his program of studies had to be modified, but he still went to Canada to preach the gospel to the Huron nation. In order to reach them, he made a six-hundred-mile canoe trip on a river with treacherous rapids. During his first stay, the Hurons were so suspicious that not one person converted. But he persisted over numerous visits that slowly bore fruit.
Later, he and a fellow missionary were captured by the the Iroquois, who slowly tortured them to death. Their tormentors so admired the way they continued to preach and pray even as they were dying that after killing de Brebeuf, some of the Iroquois drank de Brebeuf’s blood in the hopes of ingesting his courage.
Isaac Jogues left a fine position teaching literature in France in order to go to North America. He was captured by another Iroquois tribe, who mutilated him by burning, cutting, and chewing off his fingers before he was unexpectedly rescued by some Dutch soldiers. Grateful to God for his rescue, Jogues could have stayed safe in France, but he lost no time in returning to the Hurons. Not long after his arrival, he was tomahawked.
Where do your riches lie? The only treasures any of us can count on keeping for eternity are the ones we have given up for love of God and his children. It makes no sense to store up our talents and gifts. No one would benefit from that. So be generous! Give your time and resources to the Lord! The more you give away, the more he fills you with the treasures of his life, his love, and his blessings.
”Jesus, you are my only treasure. I am awed by the heroism of your martyrs. Make me single-hearted for you, just as they were.”
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