Rich Toward God Alone

Faith begins where control ends. Today’s Scriptures pair Abraham’s confidence in God’s promise with Jesus’ stark warning about the illusion of security that wealth can create. Together they sketch a path from anxiety to freedom: trust the God who raises the dead (Rom 4:24), become poor in spirit (Mt 5:3), and be rich in what matters to God (Lk 12:21). The Benedictus reminds us why: God sets us free so we can worship without fear, living holy and righteous all our days (Lk 1:73-75).

Abraham’s Trust and Our Justification

Paul holds up Abraham as someone “empowered by faith” who trusted that what God promised, He could accomplish (Rom 4:20-21). That trust “was credited to him as righteousness”—and not for him alone. It is “also for us,” Paul insists, if we believe in the One who “raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,” who “was handed over for our transgressions and raised for our justification” (Rom 4:22-25).

This is not a call to wishful thinking but to resurrection realism. St. Athanasius, defending the full divinity of Christ, insisted that only a truly divine Savior can truly save. The One who conquered death does more than forgive; He ushers us into a new mode of life. If Christ is risen, then the metrics by which we assess safety, success, and sufficiency are reconstituted around Him. Faith is therefore not mere assent; it is a new way of standing in the world—leaning our full weight on God’s promise.

Poverty of Spirit: The Freedom to Worship

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3). Poverty of spirit is not self-contempt; it is unburdened dependence on God. Luke’s canticle (the Benedictus) sings this freedom: God has “raised up…a mighty savior” and remembered His covenant “to set us free…to worship him without fear” (Lk 1:69-75). Detachment is ordered toward mission: to love God and neighbor with an unencumbered heart.

St. Augustine helps here. He teaches that our lives are shaped by what we love and by the order of those loves. Greed is disordered love—it treats penultimate goods as ultimate. The heart then becomes crowded, anxious, and defensive. Poverty of spirit reorders love: God first, people next, things in service of both. When loves are rightly ordered, possessions stop possessing us.

The Rich Fool and the Fragility of Barns

Jesus refuses to arbitrate an inheritance dispute and instead exposes the deeper issue: “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions” (Lk 12:15). The parable follows: a bumper crop, bigger barns, a pledged future of ease—and then a shocking interruption: “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you” (Lk 12:20). The tragedy is not prudent planning but existential miscalculation: he stored treasure for himself and was “not rich in what matters to God” (Lk 12:21).

Modern barns wear many faces—retirement accounts, upgraded homes, storage units, subscriptions, even carefully curated online identities. None of these is evil; many are wise and necessary. But when building and protecting these barns becomes our primary project, the soul grows small while the walls grow tall. Anxiety inflates, generosity deflates, and worship becomes an afterthought.

The Gospel’s remedy is not recklessness but reorientation:

• Discernment over accumulation: Why am I keeping this, buying this, upgrading this?
• Purpose over hoarding: How do my resources serve God’s kingdom, my family’s true good, and the common good?
• Presence over postponement: What good can I do today, not only “one day when I have enough”?

Practicing Being “Rich Toward God”

Concrete habits form free hearts. Consider:

• A “barn audit”: Walk through your spaces (including digital subscriptions). What can be given, sold for charity, or simply released?
• A generosity line-item: Tithe or set a percentage for almsgiving before other discretionary spending. Let giving lead, not follow, your budget.
• Simplicity rhythms: Keep a weekly purchase-free day; practice seasonal decluttering; set limits on ads and social feeds that stoke desire.
• Relational repair: If money is straining family ties (inheritance, loans, expectations), pursue reconciliation with transparency, prayer, and patient mediation.
• Resurrection horizon: When financial news fuels fear, pray the Benedictus (Lk 1:68-75). Let worship reset what truly secures you.

The Cross as the Measure of Treasure: Optional Memorial of St. Paul of the Cross

Today many communities also remember St. Paul of the Cross (1694–1775), founder of the Passionists. He taught that contemplation of Christ’s Passion is the shortest road to a burning love for God and compassion for the world. The Cross reveals the world’s true economy: perfect Love poured out, not wealth stored up. In a culture trained to calculate returns, St. Paul of the Cross invites a different calculus—love that spends itself for the least, confident that the Father, who did not spare His own Son, will give us all we need in Him (cf. Rom 8:32).

If greed narrows the soul, the Passion widens it. Kneeling before the Crucified reorders our loves, heals our fears, and makes us free to be lavish in mercy.

Hope Stronger Than Scarcity

Abraham’s faith, the Benedictus’ freedom, the Beatitude’s promise, and the parable’s warning converge on one invitation: become rich in what matters to God. In seasons of economic uncertainty, rising costs, and relentless comparison, the risen Christ offers a sturdier security. He was “handed over for our transgressions and raised for our justification” (Rom 4:25). Lean on that. Then live lightly, give gladly, and worship without fear (Lk 1:74)—for the Kingdom belongs to the poor in spirit (Mt 5:3), and no barn can contain a heart that trusts the God who raises the dead (Rom 4:24).