The poor rich

The story is told about an elderly rich man who asked the trainer at the gym which exercise machine would impress the ladies around. The dismayed trainer looked at him and said:  “Sir, maybe you can try the ATM at the gym entrance door.”

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In today’s Gospel (Lk. 12, 13-21), Jesus warns us not to rely on worldly wealth and possessions for our security. Our true security is in God. Everything and everyone else are false security. When we arrive at the doorsteps of eternity, all worldly power and wealth will fade away. We carry nothing with us when we leave this world except the love and goodness we have shared. Poor are the rich who think they can buy everything and everyone.

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Being rich is in itself not a sin. But being filthy rich is. Is your money a result of hard and honest work? Were others affected in the course of amassing your wealth?

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Being greedy rich is also a sin. How much have you shared and how much are you sharing? Are you generous? Are your hands that have received so much also open to give much? Generosity liberates. Greed imprisons.

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Being proudly rich is also a sin. When we remove God from the throne and worship ourselves and our wealth, and when we make people subject to us because of our wealth, then we commit the sin of idolatry. May we never forget that God is God, and that there is no greater god among us.

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It can happen also that one can be filthy poor, greedy poor, and proudly poor. The point is that rich or poor, what matters is not what we hold or not hold in our hands, but what we have or do not have in our hearts. The heart is where real poverty exists. One who does not have God in his/her heart is really, really poor.

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Today is the Feast of St. John Mary Vianney, a simple, saintly priest who lived a life of simplicity and poverty, ministering to his flock with much love and devotion, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, hearing confessions up to 20 hours a day in the confessional. I was in Ars, France, last May, and I saw his church and his lowly home. It was a humbling experience. Indeed, we do not need much in this life. We can do without a lot in this life.

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There is a lowly guava tree in our compound at Christ the King Seminary that is visited by so many people at any time of the day. Why? Because it is generous in giving its fruits. I am sure it is not easy for the poor tree to be climbed upon, or stoned, but it keeps on giving anyway. Generosity is a virtue, but it can also be abused, but that is not a reason for virtue to cease. This lowly guava tree teaches us to give generously and joyfully, until it hurts.

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Try to visit a retirement house or an old folks’ home, and you will realize that life is not about riches and wealth in the end. Indeed, life is not so much about quantity as quality.

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Try to visit a hospital, especially the intensive care unit, and you will realize that no amount of money and wealth can prevent death when the time to go has come. Money can help prolong life or postpone death, but death will surely come.

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Try to visit a cemetery, and there you will realize what the Lord tells us today: “You fool, this night will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?” For whom, for what, did you have so much?

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“Perhaps all of life is no more than a long preparation for leaving it.” (J. Barnville) Do you have an “exit plan”? Aside from your retirement plan, and beyond your memorial plan, have you thought about how you plan to exit from this life? And to which direction?

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Please don’t forget that life is a journey to God’s heart. Don’t focus on the provisions for the journey, for these may make you lose your way. Focus neither on the comforts of the journey for these may make you stop, and want to stay. Keep in mind your mission and final destination as we journey on.

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Recently, a list of the richest men in the Philippines came out, which included Henry Sy ($12 billion), Lucio Tan ($7.5 billion), Andrew Tan ($4.6 billion), and John Gokongwei ($3.4 billion). Wow.  I cannot even imagine how much a billion is. We congratulate them for their achievement. But more than their achievement, we congratulate them if they have a real commitment to our nation, especially to the marginalized and the poor. Many of us will not make it to the list, nor do we aspire to. A case of sour grapes? Not really. Maybe just forward-looking.

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Think about this: “Do not look forward to what might happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father who cares for you today, will take care of your tomorrow and every day.

Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then. Put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.”

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A moment with the Lord:

Remind us Lord that what matters most in the end is not what we hold in our hands but what and who we have in our hearts. Amen.