This Sunday’s Gospel recounts Jesus telling the parable of the rich man who built bigger barns to store up his riches so he can relax but God demands his soul that very night.
This reading will probably hit home for a lot of us.
Isn’t the whole point of getting good grades at PSLE, to get into a good course of study, to get a good job, to earn more than your neighbour, buy bigger houses along the way, so that you can finally sip cocktails by the beach at 50?
As a society, we’ve pretty much planted this ideal lifestyle into almost everyone’s head. And if you weren’t chasing this dream, you were either not ambitious enough or just different.
So when is it enough? Let’s change this script.
As the author of the book of Ecclesiastes proclaims, “Vanity of vanities. All is vanity!” For him, everything on this earth will one day fade away. He adds that our hard labour and our achievements will all end in death, and our wealth will go to someone who has done nothing to work for it. Thus, everything is pointless.
Instead, Jesus shows us that what truly matters in life is having a relationship of love and trust with God and living a life of being generous towards others. True wealth is having God as the centre of our lives, and not wealth, possessions or lifestyle. Let us remember that life is fragile and short, and so, may we strive to be rich in love for others and in our relationship with God.
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