Sermons & Homilies
In today’s Gospel, we see a certain rich man completely bereft of humility and prayer to God; one who relies completely upon his own understanding and power. Seeing his earthly prosperity, he first asks himself—and not God—a question: “what shall I do?” Then, answering himself, he says: “this will I do…” And he continues in this self-reliance, even telling himself what he will counsel his own self in the future, saying, “And I will say to my soul.” The rich man is seen comforting his own soul with temporal comfort, prosperity, vanity and self-deception. No thought of God or the next life enters within his thinking.
In the Gospel appointed for this Sunday we hear Our Saviour speak this parable:
The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Lk. 12:16-21)