Proper 13 (18) – Year C
EIGHTH Sunday after Pentecost: August 3, 2025
Gospel Lectionary Text
Luke 12:13-21
12:13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me."
12:14 But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?"
12:15 And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."
12:16 Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly.
12:17 And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?'
12:18 Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
12:19 And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.'
12:20 But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'
12:21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."
Context
Welcome to the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost. In our Gospel, a man asks Jesus to settle a dispute over family inheritance. Jesus refuses to play judge between the man and his brother. Instead, he tells a story that holds up a relational mirror. He shifts the focus from “stuff” to the relational dynamic that has the man and his brother locked in rivalry. Jesus knows: the thing is never really about the thing, it’s always about the relationship that makes the thing desirable.
The story begins, “The land of a rich man produced abundantly.” Notice: it’s the land that yields the harvest, not the man. Abundance comes as a gift, not a reward. The setup relaxes the question of ownership, which is what a vision of abundance always does. Unfortunately, instead of participating in the gift economy, the myth of scarcity turns the man inward. His vision becomes obsessed with the stuff, which now possesses him.
He isolates, speaking only to himself. No friends. No community. No God. Just a closed loop of self-talk: What should I do? I know. I’ll build bigger barns. His grand plan? “Eat. Drink. Be merry.” His vision misses the one thing that can make him whole — relationship.
God’s reply is sobering: “You fool.” The tragedy isn’t that the man has a lot of stuff — it’s that the stuff has him. And all because he refused to reconcile with the ones who made the stuff desirable in the first place.
Jesus is holding up a mirror to the would-be “fool,” inviting him (and us) to attend to the relationships that have us competing for stuff. The key is to shift our patterns of desire — to want what God wants, which is reconciliation with our brothers and sisters. That’s what makes us “rich towards God.”
Question
What are we willing to lose in order to gain “stuff” — whether material things or immaterial things like prestige, success, or even the feeling of being right or good?
Reflections
With Me or Against Me
By Joel Aguilar |
A group of leaders in a Mayan urban community in Guatemala were very enthusiastic about the idea of running a program to combat teenage alcohol consumption — one of many issues negatively impacting young people in their community. They had great plans, but one question remained: where could they obtain the necessary resources to run...
Giving up on Control
By Kristy Humphreys |
In this week’s text, the Rich Fool thinks he can control and manage his life into a state of blissful completion. His land has been productive, and he has more than he knows what to do with. All he needs is a strategy, and he’ll have it made. “I know! I’ll just build bigger barns!...
Praying Eucharistically - Weekly Homily by James Alison:
Understanding the Bible anew through the Mimetic Theory of René Girard.
Poetry
This week, we invite you to read and reflect on “A Prayer,” by the 8th Century Sufi mystic, Rebe'a al-'Adawiya.
In our text for this week, Jesus says, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” There are several fascinating implications packed into this statement.
The first is anthropological: Jesus acknowledges that “evil” does not render the human heart completely depraved. The “evil” heart is still generous—though, perhaps, it draws distinct lines between those who deserve its generosity and those who do not. This is the first way that al-'Adawiya encourages us to imagine a redeemed life, modeled after God’s own life: generosity extending itself not only to friends, but to enemies.
The second implication is theological: “How much more will the heavenly Father give?” Jesus says. A well-loved child quickly understands that a parent’s generosity is only a symbol and expression of their love. Gifts may be great, but loving and being loved by such a generous giver is even greater. So, too, for al-'Adawiya, who looks beyond all expressions and effects of divine love to seek the very author of her soul: “My only desire is to meet You.”
A Prayer
by Rebe'a al-'Adawiya; translated by Tom Michel, SJ
O my God, all the good things you have prepared for me on this earth, give them to Your enemies. And everything you have prepared for me in the other world, give it to Your friends, because You are enough for me. My God, if I worship you out of fear of Hell, burn me in Hell. And if I worship you out of hope of Paradise, keep me out of Paradise. But if I worship You solely for Yourself, do not deprive me of Your eternal beauty. O God, all that I do and all that I desire in this world is to remember You, and in the world to come, my only desire is to meet You. This is my desire; now do with me whatever you will.
Prayer
This week, the call to prayer comes from the Street Psalms Centering Prayer:
Come, Holy Spirit, wild and free. Do as you please. Shine your light on me that I might see things as they are, not as I am. Free me to act in your name with courage, creativity, and compassion.
