some stuff about too much stuff

Hi friends,

Not too long ago a friend of mine and I were comparing notes about moving from one assignment to another. He stated that when he was first ordained and moved to his first parish, everything he owned fit in the back seat and hatchback of his new Dodge Horizon. I concurred that I fit all that I owned in the back of my Ford Escort. Our latest moves took a huge box truck, a couple of pick-ups, and our own cars. We both longed to get back to the more simple baggage that we once carried.

Just looking at my own stuff, I don’t even know if I could fit just the clothes that I own in my car. Now I own a boat, a car, a truck, several pieces of furniture, tons of toys (fishing, boating, hunting, golfing stuff), garbage bags full of hats, computer equipment, TVs, stereos, and other entertainment things, boxes of books, two file cabinets, and a lot of stuff that I’ve forgotten that I own.

Today’s readings hit me hard. The Gospel ends with the sentence from Jesus’ mouth, “thus it will be for those who store up treasure for themselves, but are not rich in the matters of God.” There is an old saying, “You can’t take it with you, except the things you gave away.” Today’s Gospel needs very little explanation. We all might be looking for the loopholes, but there aren’t any. What did you not understand? Perhaps the last line of the reading would be cause for wondering just what does “matter to God.” Luke’s Gospel stresses the centrality of holding on to Jesus as we saw two weeks ago with Mary’s sitting at the feet of Jesus while Martha was doing many other good things. In the Gospels discipleship is about only staying attached to God and His will, and not being attached to anything else.

We all have things of great value, emotionally, materially, historically. These and many other things are my wealth. I know I cling to them as if they were of great monetary value. We all have possessions. The thing is not what we possess, but what possesses us. We know that it is so easy to receive the gifts and not the hand Who offers them. Reception is sacramental; to cling to them for our value and identity is sacrilegious.

The question for us today (especially us who value ourselves, and us who put value on others, by what we/they possess) is, how do our possessions keep us from seeking and finding the only One worth possessing?

paz,
Fr. Chuck