READINGS:   Ecclesiastes 1: 2; 2: 21-23 /Psalm 90: 3-4. 5-6. 12-13orPsalm 95: 1-2. 6-7. 8-9/Colossians 3: 1-5. 9-11 / LUKE 12: 13-21

HIS WORD…FRIEND, WHO APPOINTED ME AS YOUR JUDGE AND ARBITRATOR? …TAKE CARE TO GUARD AGAINST ALL GREED, FOR THOUGH ONE MAY BE RICH, ONE’S LIFE DOES NOT CONSIST OF POSSESSIONS…

my words…In the Philippines, every last Sunday of July is “Fil-Mission Sunday” which is a reminder for all Filipino Catholics that as baptized and confirmed Christians we are also doing missions outside of our country. And our Filipino Diocesan Priests who belong to the Mission Society of the Philippines (MSP) are the ones doing this for quite a time already. And today, we are asked to support them in forms of our prayers and our material and financial support and assistance for them in the missions. Let us entrust their apostolic endeavors to our Heavenly Father who sent them to be heralds of His Kingdom of love and peace.

The gospel of today speaks about our ATTITUDE towards riches. The worst attitude towards material things is all forms of GREED (Lk 12:15); while the best attitude is GENEROSITY. A greedy person on one hand is always egoistic or self-centered; while a generous person on the other handis always altruistic or other-oriented. Greedy persons build walls, generous people build bridges.

Brothers and Sisters, riches are blessings from God; they are part of the wealth of God’s creation. But at the moment when these wealth become our “gods” – then it will be powered by the evil one via all forms of greed. Greed destroys all forms of relationships even among consanguinities or blood relatives as is exemplified in the gospel of today. Most cases in court are of this sort. We can easily forget our true God when money and wealth become our “gods”. We often forget that God is the true absolute owner of all things in this world; we are just His stewards. Absolute ownerships in legal instruments like contracts, deed of sale, memorandum of agreements, etc. are just but for the sake of the law. The true absolute owner is God alone! Proof to that is what Job professed, “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, naked shall I return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21). We came from Him with nothing, with nothing we shall go back to Him. Everything simply belongs to God. This is the reason why the gospel of today is a warning against all forms of greed (Lk 12:15).

Brothers and Sisters, all of us are asked to be generous especially in what matters to God. Our Filipino Missions are matters of God; we need to support them… and this is now the ripest moment for us to show our generosity on things that matters to God. Our MSP Priests and Brothers have given themselves to the missions and ministries of the Church. They become parts of the treasures of the Church in the Philippines; let us therefore support and be generous to them. In this Mass, let us offer our Filipino missionaries to the Lord. Let us offer parts of the treasures of our families, homes, and lives to the real and absolute owner of all life. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever!

TRULY… GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL AND GENEROUS GIVER… MAY GOD BLESS US… (By Fr. Julius C. Lupot)