[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, August 3, 2025, the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
[00:00:24] This week's episode is entitled: Building Bigger Barns, and in these readings, we are told that worldly success doesn't ensure heavenly happiness. So, what does?
[00:00:39] As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following:
Our success in this world is often measured by the abundance of our possessions. We spend an inordinate amount of time building larger barns, metaphorically speaking, so that we can accumulate even more stuff. But everything we build up here on earth won't guarantee a place in the kingdom of God. Saint Paul tells us to seek the things of heaven instead. That's good advice, but how do we follow that in a world that values wealth and prestige over kindness and generosity?
[00:01:22] So let's begin.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for this time spent with your word in Sacred Scripture. Help us to better understand your kingdom so that we can lay up treasure there rather than pursue the passing things of this world. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:50] Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures.
[00:01:55] Our Gospel this week is from Luke 12: 13-21.
“One of the multitude said to [Jesus], ‘Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Man, who made me judge or divider over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’ And he told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” And 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. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’”
[00:03:21] Last week we were in chapter 11 of Luke, this week we jumped to the middle of chapter 12… and we missed a lot in the verses that the Lectionary omitted. Jesus drove out a demon, then taught the crowds about demons and evil; he ate with a Pharisee, then denounced the hypocrisy of the Pharisees to the crowds; and finally, Jesus taught those crowds that were following him about who should rightly be feared.
[00:03:54] I'll give you a hint… it's not the Jewish religious authorities, in fact, it's nothing of this world… it is God! And by fear, Jesus doesn't mean simply being afraid… least of all being afraid of the things of this world, even death itself, but rather that what we should really fear is being sent to hell.
[00:04:23] That then brings us to today's passage, which contains the Parable of the Rich Fool. The starting point of this passage may have seemed familiar, reminding us a bit of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, but then Luke quickly takes a hard left turn.
[00:04:44] Today's parable - like the Parable of the Prodigal Son - is found only in Luke's Gospel. So, let's break open this week's passage…
[00:04:54] “One of the multitude said to [Jesus], ‘Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.’”
[00:05:02] Notice how this person addresses Jesus - as teacher, not Lord. That gives us the first hint about our questioner - that he lacks true faith in Jesus. Then he says: “tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” That tells us a bit more about him, that he is maybe ungrateful, or spoiled, or both. That's where we get the similarity with the Prodigal Son.
[00:05:38] Now, in Jewish tradition, the firstborn was entitled to a double portion of the Father's estate, that's in Deuteronomy 21. But the estate was not to be broken up prior to the father’s death. In fact, all inheritance rights were clearly detailed in Mosaic law, found in Numbers and Deuteronomy. This passage doesn't give us a whole lot of other information, though, about the situation.
[00:06:13] We don't know the father's status (whether he is still alive or if he's already died). We don't know the intent of the older brother (whether or not he was being selfish and refusing to share the inheritance).
[00:06:30] So, while this question seems to come out of left field, Jesus' answer gives us a hint about what he sensed regarding the young man who made this request.
[00:06:44] “[Jesus] said to him, ‘Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?’”
[00:06:50] Clearly, Jesus is not pleased with what he sees because he - in essence - scolds this young man and tells him that his question is rude and unsuitable. That then sets up everything else that Jesus will say and he starts with…
“Take heed, and beware all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
[00:07:20] Jesus is not talking just to this young man who posed the question about inheritance, he's also addressing his disciples… he's also addressing the crowds that are following him… and he's also talking to all of us - these many centuries later - that other things are more important than wealth or worldly possessions. Things like life, health, family and friends, love, gratitude, generosity, and kindness.
[00:08:02] And to this young man in particular, Jesus is pointing out that family wealth should never be a cause of family division. That is an important reminder to us as well.
[00:08:21] “And he told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully;”
[00:08:28] Well, that certainly seems like an auspicious beginning, but let's listen further…
[00:08:34] “he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’”
[00:08:40] That sentence suggests to us that this rich man already possessed a surplus and that his barns are already full.
[00:08:52] And notice, we're also alerted to what will turn out to be a very selfish nature. Look at all the personal pronouns in that sentence: he, himself, I, my. We can see a quite troubling pattern beginning to emerge.
“And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones;’”
[00:09:21] That confirms that this rich man is both selfish and self-centered. He is clearly focused only on himself and his own good. The idea of building larger barns to contain more stuff should almost suggest to us a form of addiction… which should also serve as a warning. This parable is telling us to beware of accumulating things that benefit ourselves alone, things that make us feel better here in this life… maybe things like drugs or alcohol, certainly, but also things like wealth, power, honor, pleasure, accolades… anything that feeds our self-obsession and our self-absorption. The rich man then goes on…
“there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many year; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.”
[00:10:42] That entire sentence is so unbelievably troubling. The rich man speaks as if even his own soul belongs to him alone, rather than to God! That should give each and every one of us pause.
[00:11:01] Remember back a couple of weeks ago when we talked about inviting God into every aspect of our lives? Well, this rich man is clearly excluding God from every aspect of his life and concentrating instead on indulging in every earthly pleasure imaginable.
[00:11:25] Self-centeredness that has reached that level, unfortunately, is the inevitable result of excluding God from our lives because then we start believing that we are really in control of our own lives and our own destiny, and we're not. And this rich man finds that out very quickly when God says to him:
“Fool! This night your soul is required of you;”
[00:11:59] If we're startled by God's use of the word “fool” here, we should be. It is intended as a very harsh rebuke!
[00:12:09] And these words remind us that even life itself is a gift from God, and that our soul is a sharing in God's life, and he can demand the return of our lives and our souls at any moment!
[00:12:28] Then God continues…
“and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”
[00:12:36] Again, God is reminding the rich man that worldly wealth is useless to him when he is no longer in the world. And that is not to say that leaving your kids an inheritance is a bad thing - it's not - but it is quite clear that an inheritance for children was never in this rich man's grand scheme. By the way, keep that phrase we just heard in mind… it will help us when we get to our First Reading, which is from Ecclesiastes.
[00:13:07] Jesus then concludes his teaching by saying…
“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
[00:13:19] This parable is not intended to suggest that the accumulation of wealth and possessions, in and of itself, is bad. It isn't - intent, however, is everything.
[00:13:35] Think back to the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. He stored up seven years’ worth of grain during the plentiful harvests in Egypt that could then be distributed to the people during the seven years of famine. So, intent is crucial. Joseph didn't store that grain to benefit himself alone… he stored it up to benefit everyone.
[00:14:01] The rich man, however, was so intent on himself that he didn't even think of God. He didn't think to thank God for the abundant harvest that his lands produced, and he was way too busy hoarding his possessions to share his bounty with others.
[00:14:27] We have to be careful not to act the same way! We have to learn to view earthly things from the perspective of eternity.
[00:14:42] I've heard that compared to holding onto things gently with our fingertips rather than grasping them tightly in the palm of our hands. The more lightly we hold on to things, especially the things of this world, the easier they will be to let go of.
Francis Cardinal George, who held the office of Cardinal from 1998 until his death in 2015, who was also a former Archbishop of Chicago, and a mentor of Bishop Robert Barron, said: “the only things you can take with you into the life to come are the things you've given away here on earth.”
[00:15:29] I was privileged to meet Cardinal George when he spoke at Notre Dame many years ago, and that quote has always been close to my heart. And so, with that in mind, we have to ask ourselves, if our lives were demanded of us tonight, what would we be taking with us? What would we have to show God?
[00:15:55] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from Ecclesiastes 1: 2; 2: 21-23.
[00:16:05] “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. [S]ometimes a man who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by a man who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What has a man from all the toil and strain with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of pain, and his work is a vexation; even in the night his mind does not rest. This also is vanity.”
[00:16:45] The title of this book, Ecclesiastes, is Latin for Qoheleth - which is actually, in turn, a Greek name meaning collector or assembler. It comes from the root word qahal, another Greek word, meaning a gathering or an assembly.
[00:17:07] There is very little beyond that that is certain about the author of Ecclesiastes, as he never actually names himself… although he does identify himself as a “son of David” and a “king of Jerusalem” and a “Preacher” in various parts of Chapter 1.
[00:17:32] Jewish and Christian tradition at one time agreed that the author of Ecclesiastes was King Solomon, specifically Solomon as an older man. However, modern scripture scholars often discount that. Ecclesiastes is one of the most philosophical books of the Old Testament. It looks at the world through the lens of human experience, human reason, and human observation in an attempt to make sense of the difficulties of human life… things like suffering, death, and misfortune.
[00:18:15] The book dates to somewhere between 500 and 200 BC, which makes it even less likely that Solomon was the author, since he died around 930 BC. At the time this book was written, we have to remember, there was no belief in individual life after death.
[00:18:37] A person's only hope for immortality, at that time, was through their children… but if one's children were fools, then there was no hope, there was only grief. That sets the stage for today's passage. So, let's delve into this a bit more deeply…
[00:19:00] “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”
[00:19:08] These first two sentences from Chapter 1 begin the passage in order to introduce us to the author. However, we cannot understand his words without further context, because the word vanity meant something different in biblical times than it does to us in our modern times.
[00:19:30] For us, the word vanity means conceit or excessive pride. For the author, who simply identifies himself here as “the Preacher,” vanity means a vapor or a puff of wind, something that is fleeting, futile, and of no consequence.
[00:19:55] So what the preacher is saying is that we cannot rely on the things of this world because everything in this world is transient and insubstantial. Then the Lectionary jumps us to the end of chapter 2, and that is what connects with our Gospel. Remember I said to keep a particular phrase in mind? Well, this is why!
“[S]ometimes a man who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by a man who did not toil for it."
[00:20:34] Here the author bemoans the reality that everything a person builds or accumulates in this life must be left to another after one's own death. That is the answer to the question God posed the rich man at the end of Jesus’ parable…. “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” Well, the answer is they will belong to someone who did not toil for them.
[00:21:04] The question then becomes how do we deal with that reality? The author says…
“This also is vanity and a great evil.”
But what should we take away from that sentence? Basically, the author means that this world and all of our efforts in it are, in the end, of no real consequence. Everything we do will pass away. That's what he means by this is a vanity. And by great evil… do not assume that the author means a moral evil, he doesn't. Rather, he means that this is simply a painful human reality.
[00:21:50] “What has a man from all the toil and strain with which he toils beneath the sun?”
[00:21:55] By using the words toil and strain, the Preacher seeks to articulate vanity in some concrete, measurable terms - to quantify the ephemeral, if you will - and by beneath the sun, he simply means in the world of human experience.
[00:22:17] So again, the question is… what real benefit is there for anyone who must work for a living? Which, let's face it, is most of us, because whatever we do is of no lasting consequence… not here on earth, not beyond our own lifetimes, and certainly not in heaven.
“For all his days are full of pain, and his work is vexation;”
[00:22:46] The author is saying that everything a person does is difficult and work only leads to more work.
[00:22:54] “even in the night his mind does not rest.”
Meaning the anxious mind of the one who is now exhausted by unrewarding work and unrelenting struggle will not allow the body, no matter how weary, to attain healthy rest.
[00:23:15] And the author concludes…
“This also is vanity.”
And with those words, the Lectionary brings this passage full circle. The underlying message we are left with should not be sadness, but what we really are left with is that we cannot look for, nor will we find lasting fulfillment on earth… in this life.
[00:23:46] Truly, at the end of chapter 2, the author says that even the present moment is a gift from God, so just enjoy it. And when we read all the way to the end of Ecclesiastes, after all the philosophy… after all the words of wisdom… after all the platitudes… we are left with the words: “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” Which really should sum up life for us, if you think about it. This passage is a good reminder to us that only God can be in control of any every moment and active in every event.
[00:24:35] So the one thing that really matters is getting through this life and getting to God. When the world places more and more pressure on us to accumulate stuff… we need to remind ourselves that everything here is vanity… and maybe we should define vanity with both the biblical and the modern meanings!
[00:25:05] That brings us to our Responsorial Psalm, which is Psalm 90, and the refrain is:
“O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.”
And here are the verses:
[00:25:20] “You turn man back to the dust, and say, ‘Turn back, O children of men!’ For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.”
“You sweep men away; they are like a dream, like grass which is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.”
“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!”
“Satisfy us in the morning with your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us, yes, establish the work of our hands.”
[00:26:20] This Psalm is a Communal Lament, and it is actually attributed directly to Moses. I also have to point out that the refrain is actually from Psalm 98, and that's the Psalm that recounts how the Israelites put God to the test at Massah and Meribah in the desert.
[00:26:41] Basically, the overarching message of Psalm 90 is that human life is fleeting and burdened by troubles, but that God is eternal and merciful. So that gives us a really good sense of why this Psalm was paired with Ecclesiastes and the Gospel.
[00:27:06] In the first stanza, when the Psalmist says “you turn man back to dust” that means, of course, bodily death… and “a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday” reminds us that time has meaning for us, for mankind, but that it is meaningless to God. God created time but is not subject to it.
The second stanza is essentially a meditation on the brevity of human life. And then, in the third stanza, the Psalmist asks for a “heart of wisdom” because it is a great wisdom to know that life's pains and frustrations are only temporary. The desperate cry of “How long?” is the Psalmist's way (Moses’ way) of asking God to bestow his mercy quickly.
[00:28:11] And at the end of the Psalm, we hear the Psalmist (Moses) ask God to grant some measure of happiness to mankind in this life. That doesn't mean it will happen, but it certainly doesn't hurt to ask.
[00:28:28] That takes us to our Second Reading, which is from Colossians 3: 1-5, 9-11.
[00:28:37] “[Brothers and sisters:] If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his practices and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scyth’ian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.”
[00:29:57] This is the fourth and final passage from Colossians that we'll hear this summer. In this part of his letter, Paul is reminding those who have been baptized that they cannot become complacent. As Christians grow in faith - in the knowledge and love of Christ, that includes us, by the way - then behaviors, thoughts, and attitudes that run counter to the message of Jesus must be rejected.
[00:30:31] Paul also reminds the Colossians that society, as a whole, tends to simply ignore bad behavior and, by ignoring it, indicates a tacit acceptance of it. But that Christians cannot do that… WE cannot do that. We know better, and we must be… we will be… held to a higher standard. So, let's break open what Paul is saying…
[00:31:06] “[Brothers and sisters:] If then you have been raised with Christ,”
Meaning in the Sacrament of Baptism.
“seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
[00:31:22] These words don't indicate any sort of dualism… this isn't a body bad/spirit good sort of declaration or some other type of Gnostic philosophy. This is simply Paul saying that Christians shouldn't focus on and accept the things of this world as the be all and end all of our existence. That what matters is life with Christ in the kingdom of heaven.
[00:31:51] “Set your mind on things that are above,”
All of those things that strengthen our relationship with God.
“not on the things that are on earth.”
The many, many things in this world that weaken our relationship with God.
[00:32:12] Paul is challenging the Colossians, and by extension each one of us, to decide what we value the most. Do we place the greatest value on earthly things… possessions, wealth, power, honor, etc.? Or do we place our greatest import on God and our relationship with him? And if the choice is God… don't act like it isn't! And let's face it, we all do at times! We all act that way at times! We're all sinners and we all make mistakes.
[00:32:59] “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
[00:33:05] Paul uses the word “hidden” to evoke a sense of mystery and it invites believers, all Christian believers, to become part of the mystery… to acknowledge that we are part of that mystery by virtue of our Baptism.
[00:33:31] “When Christ who is our life appears,”
At the second coming.
“then you also will appear with him in glory.”
[00:33:43] The Baptized, the faithful, the righteous will appear with Jesus on the Judgment Day and be clothed with God's glory.
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:”
[00:34:00] That is a stark warning from Paul, but he doesn't stop simply with a warning. He then presents a list of vices that earn God's wrath.
“immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
[00:34:22] That is by no means a comprehensive list! It's certainly a decent start for personal sin, although I'm sure if we all thought about it, there are things that each of us could add to that list.
[00:34:38] And I want to address the last one - covetousness, which is idolatry. We tend, in our minds, to separate those two things… but covetousness, that isn't just: oh, my neighbor got a new car… I'd like to have a car like that. No, no, no, no, no! Covetousness reaches the point where your neighbor drives home with a new car and you say: oh, I want that car… I'm going to go steal that car out of their driveway. That's covetousness!
[00:35:10] And any desire that reaches that point is a form of idolatry, because we're putting something else above God in importance. And that's really what idolatry is… which is worshiping something that is not God - worshiping something other than God. And again, that list of sins is a really good start.
But what about social sin, which is sin against our neighbors? We've heard a lot about neighbors recently, haven't we? And we don't often think of social sin as being our own personal sin, which is what makes it so much more insidious and so much easier to ignore. Gregory Baum, a German born Canadian priest and renowned Vatican II theologian, wrote that “social sin is collective blindness.”
[00:36:15] Remember earlier, I said that society, as a whole, tends to just ignore bad behavior and, by ignoring it, indicates a tacit acceptance of it. That is where and how social sin sinks its hooks into us!
[00:36:33] And just to remind ourselves of what types of transgressions social sin entails, think of things like prejudice, indifference, oppression, inequity, racism, poverty, and pollution, just to name a few. Most people don't think of putting pollution in that category of social sin, but that's where it belongs. Because when we pollute, we negatively impact our world and other people who inhabit it.
“Do not lie to one another,”
[00:37:13] Paul is telling the Colossians, and us, that lying is bad, certainly, but that's just one level of meaning. Paul also means that any bad behavior we accept as a society, we also become complicit in - and that's the lie we often neglect to tell ourselves.
[00:37:38] And at that point we have two choices. We can either accept social sin and actively participate in it, or we can actively engage in making positive change. But as Paul goes on, we learn that there really is only one acceptable choice.
“seeing that you have put off the old man with his practices and put on the new man,”
Meaning that we have set aside our old sinful ways and put on Christ in Baptism… Christ is the new man. But that also means there's no going back.
[00:38:33] Once we have been Baptized, we can no longer accept or tolerate sinful behaviors, thoughts, or actions in ourselves or in our society. We can't live as if we haven't been Baptized… we can't behave as if we don't know any better.
[00:38:58] And Jesus will hold us to that standard when we encounter him again… in our individual judgment at the end of our lives… and in the general judgment at the end of time in the Second Coming.
[00:39:17] Thank heaven for the Sacrament of Reconciliation where we can seek God's mercy and forgiveness, because we all need it. And the new man we have become in Baptism…
“is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
[00:39:37] This is genuine knowledge, Christian knowledge, Scriptural knowledge, and that will characterize this new existence… we, who have been created in the image of God, will grow more and more into the likeness of our Creator.
“Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scyth’ian, slave, free man,”
Meaning that all barriers and divisions between different groups of people have been abolished by Christ. They are no longer part of the new reality he establishes. There can no longer be an “us vs. them” mentality, because now we are all united in Christ.
[00:40:35] “Christ is all, and in all.”
[00:40:41] That is such a beautiful phrase to say and so hard to live. But Paul means that through Baptism we are all members of the one body of Christ, the Mystical Body, the Church… and that Christ lives within all of the Baptized. Remember, Paul said in Galatians 2: “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Therefore, that has become our new reality, and Jesus will hold us to that!
[00:41:25] In her book: The Interior Castle, Saint Teresa of Avila writes about a place that is at the very center of our being - where Jesus is. And that is a good reminder to each one of us… Jesus has taken up residency in our hearts, and we need to truly act as if he is with us at every moment of every day, because he is.
[00:42:03] In the end, it doesn't really matter what we own, where we live, what car we drive, or how much wealth we accumulate here in this life, because none of that will guarantee us a place in the kingdom of heaven. All that really matters is what we do with what we have… so, rather than asking ourselves the popular question from Marie Kondo's KonMari method - do these things bring me joy?
[00:42:42] We must, instead, ask ourselves - do these things bring me closer to God?
[00:42:53] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand.
From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with the permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening and God bless.
