Generosity and Selfishness (LK12:13-21)

"I will say to my soul: my soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time." Many would look at the Gospel today and think that this man was selfish in that he did not think to share with the poor the abundant riches he had from his harvest. This is not true. When we look at the Gospel from that perspective, we often excuse ourselves and our own selfish behavior. We give money to the Church. We give money to charities. We give money to the poor. We donate our old clothes and our old furnishings. We are not like the man in the Gospel at all. The selfishness of the man in the Gospel is not that he did not give to the poor. His selfishness is in the fact that he takes counsel from himself and only himself and those who would agree with his selfish plans. For example the contractors who are building the new barn. "I will say to my soul: my soul," this selfishness is much harder to excuse ourselves from. All of us like to take counsel from ourselves and those who would agree with us. We forget that we belong to God. "The Lord made us we belong to Him"this is the responsorial psalm today. This simple phrase should ever be on our lips and on our hearts. In love God made us and it is for love that God made us, therefore in all things we should turn to Him who loves us. The generosity that our Lord seeks from us is that we be generous in turning to Him in all things. This is so that he may shower down upon us His many Blessings, His Mercy, and His Love. If we generously give our souls to Him we will have no need to fear anything in this life. We can rest secure in true peace and enjoy the abundant blessings of Our Father's Loving Mercy. Trusting in Him we will become rich in His sight building up treasure in Heaven and leaving selfishness and worry behind.