Fr. Nnamdi Moneme, OMV: Lessons from the Rich Fool

You fool; this night your life will be demanded of you.

Jesus proclaimed these words in the parable of the rich man in Luke 12:13-21. This man had received a bountiful harvest, and all he did was tear down his old barns and build larger ones to store his surplus wealth. In our age of unbridled consumerism, where we face the constant temptation to amass earthly wealth, it’s necessary that we learn from this parable, which shows exactly how this man deserved the epithet given by Our Lord: “foolish.” Understanding these five foolish ways of dealing with possessions will teach us the proper attitudes to have towards material wealth so that we can avoid the rich fool’s sad destiny.

Firstly, the man is foolish because he seeks direction from himself and not from God. When his land produces a bountiful harvest, we are told that “he asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest.’” You can hear the self-centeredness and self-reliance in his words. He does not see the hand of divine providence in his abundant harvest. It does not occur to him that God has given him all his wealth for a purpose. He makes up his own purpose and does not bother to ask God how He wants him to make use of all his blessings. …

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