In this section you can find a daily commentary on the Gospel of the Day.

Saturday 27 November 2021

Thirtyfourth Week in Ordinary Time

Word for today
The Gospel of Luke 12:13-21

Greed

According to Jesus, man's life does not depend on his goods, in other words in what he possesses. For the mental systems, the habits and lifestyles of this generation, that statement represents a totally new, incredible perspective that no one would agree with and which is detached from any logical realism. The proof is in the fact that even now millions of people who have received orders to fight and kill, even without any order from above, are fighting and killing for a strip of land, a border, the supremacy and control of a slice of the market, or a contract. The politics and economy of this generation certainly do not agree with Jesus' statement, but it is a real and conclusive fact that it is greed, in other words the constant need for more, the desire to have the best, to be superior, to predominate, to gain profit, which is slaughtering mankind, covering the earth with blood and every possible vile injustice, soiling the water we need to drink and the air we need to breathe. Jesus repeats forcefully to this deluded and desperate generation: Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions. He at least knows for sure that people cannot live without water, air, food, freedom or dignity. Greed is not a moral issue, it is a form of misalignment with the most elementary forms of survival. Greed is a powerful acid, the only one that can really burn the spirit, the mind and the body, without leaving any trace if not in the ashes and smoke of its ruins everywhere.