Eccl 1:2,2:21-23; Col 3:1-5,9-11; Lk 12:13-21
Charles Dickens in his play “The Christmas Carol”
gives the picture of a selfish man, Mr Scrooge, whose sole aim in
life was acquiring as much wealth as possible at any cost. He considered
Christmas celebrations as humbug, and hated charity. He weighed human
relationship
against material wealth. He never bothered to care for his nephew or his employees.
One day night, he saw an unusual figure in his bed
room. It was a ghost in chains. The ghost introduced himself as the ghost of his
deceased partner. He came to warn Mr Scrooge about the futility of the
life that he was leading. He told him that some spirits would come to him and
he should listen to their message, to avoid the fate that Marley was
suffering.
First came the ghost of the past. He took Mr
Scrooge to his past. He was presented as a young man who did not heed to
the voice of his parents; who abandoned the love of a beautiful maiden to amass
wealth. The second ghost, the ghost of the present, took him to the church
where Christmas celebrations were being held; and to the house of
one of his employees. There he witnessed what others
thought of him. Everyone hated him due to his over attachment to wealth.
The third ghost took him to the future. He was taken to a house where a dead body
lay unattended and unlamented by any one. He was curious to see the dead
man. The ghost allowed him to see the corpse. Mr Scrooge was shocked it
was his own death scene.
Mr Scrooge learned a great lesson that his frantic
chase for wealth was meaningless. It would only lead him to eternal misery.
This is the message of today’s readings.
The author of the book of Ecclesiastes, from which the
first reading is taken, was evidently a man of wealth and education. Like every
Hebrew of his time he too shared the view that material prosperity was one
of the chief signs of God’s blessing and approval. Yet he questioned the
assumptions of his society. He declares the truth that “a man who labours
wisely, skilfully and successfully, must leave what is his own to someone
who has not toiled for it at all. So he asks himself, “What profit comes to a
man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has laboured
under the sun?” He was wise enough to ask the question, “Is it not vanities of
vanities to labour so hard to build up earthly happiness and before one
realizes it he has to leave it and depart from this world.”
This experience leads some people to store
things in the grave for future. The discovery of the tomb of King
Tutankhamun gives amble evidence for this. When his tomb was opened they
found great treasure buried along with his body. The list of contents
describes breath taking treasure and different types of objects, many of them
were made of gold and silver and encrusted with precious jewels. There
were gold ornaments, silver ornaments, jewellery, furniture, weapons, thrones,
jars, bots, chariots clothes and statues representing servant.
The man in the story of Jesus too is like this. He
exhorted himself, “eat heartily, drink well, and enjoy yourself.” He gave no
consideration to his end. But God said to him: “fool! This very night the
demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it
be then? St Paul advises us, “Let your thoughts be on heavenly
things, not on the things that are on the earth.”
The message today’s readings give are:
First, God wants us to remember that excessive
attachment riches are dangerous. It makes us proud, closes our heart
to the needs of our neighbour, and easily turns into idols which replace God in
our live.
Secondly, God wants us to keep in mind that
whatever we possess is God’s gift. This gift should not be a hindrance,
but a help to discover His love and goodness. We will remain accountable for
two things: “How we acquired them?” and “what use we made of them?”
Listen to the wise teaching from India:
Rivers do not drink their water
Trees do not consume their fruits themselves
Clouds do not rain for them
Thus, the wealth of the noble men is to be
used for others.
Satish