Daily Gospel Reflection
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October 21, 2024
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 goods
and 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 himself
but is not rich in what matters to God.”
Reflection
Jesus often warns against the dangers of loving material possessions. It stands out that the rich man is the only person mentioned in this parable. How easy it must be for him to decide to keep his harvest for himself. Surrounded by nobody but his own wealth, the rich man sees no reason to think beyond his comfort. This parable reminds us that when detached from community and purpose, wealth can lead to a self-centered and meaningless existence. What good is a plentiful harvest if there is no community to share it with?
I once spent time in a small village in East Timor, where traditional rice farmers faced food insecurity and extreme poverty. Despite living amidst challenges that many of us can hardly begin to imagine, the families shared what little they had with each other. They took joy in sharing rice, eggs, and even a chicken with visitors.
Over time, the farmers expanded their community outward to include more villages and learned to make new products like coconut oil. They eventually reached new markets and improved their livelihoods.
The Timorese farmers understood that prosperity would not come from each person working alone. When asked why they would take such a collaborative approach despite having so little to share, one farmer explained that it was about the next generation. Their unity not only helped them provide for their families but also, more importantly, strengthened community bonds.
The story from East Timor reminds us that true wealth lies not in what we harvest and keep for ourselves but in what we harvest and share with one another. When we see ourselves as stewards of God’s resources and work together for the common good, we create a harvest that nourishes not only ourselves but everyone around us, enriching our lives in ways beyond financial gain.
Prayer
Thank you, gracious and loving God, for the gifts and blessings you have given to us. All that we have comes from you. May your Spirit grant us generous hearts, willing to share what we have in time, treasure, and talent with those in need. Grant us hearts overflowing with loving generosity.
Saint of the Day
St. Ursula's legend has its origins in an ancient stone in a church in Cologne, Germany. How an image of this obscure German saint ended up in a stained glass window in a basilica in northern Indiana is its own unique story.
In the church of St. Ursula in Cologne, there is a stone with a Latin inscription from c. 400. The inscription indicates that a senator named Clematius received divine visions directing him to rebuild a ruined basilica on that very spot in honor of several women who had been martyred there. The visions did not specify the names of the women who were martyred.
But, as the visions seemed to indicate, a number of women had been martyred in Cologne, and they must have been highly revered by the community to have a church built in their honor. How the church had fallen into ruin was unclear. Since the church was named for a Saint Ursula, one of the women, one can deduce, must have been named Ursula.
Legend has filled in the gaps in this record. Ursula, the story goes, was the daughter of a Christian king in Britain, and betrothed to the son of a pagan king. Because Ursula wanted to remain a virgin, she asked for a three-year delay to the marriage. Thus, Ursula took her ladies-in-waiting and escaped from England. Eventually, Ursula and her companions ended up in Cologne, where they were captured by Attila and his Huns and killed for their faith around 383.
When Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World, he named the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean in honor of the virgin St. Ursula and her companions. St. Ursula is also the patron saint of the Ursuline Order of nuns, who founded schools for the education of girls and women throughout Europe. She is the patron saint of Catholic education, of students and teachers, and of the University of Paris.
When the Congregation of Holy Cross established Notre Dame, St. Ursula was one of the patrons invoked by the French priests and brothers of that order in intercession for the success of the University.
St. Ursula's relics rest in the reliquary chapel of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. In one stained glass image from the Basilica (above), St. Ursula holds the flag of England in one hand, and the flowering palm of martyrdom in the other.
St. Ursula, patron saint of Catholic education—pray for us!