Life does not depend on material goods.  Lk.12:13-21

The man in the story that Jesus tells has no name in the Gospel. But looking at the news of the year, of the week, we can put a name to it and verify what Jesus teaches us: Are those who have made money the “purpose” of their lives happy? In the best of cases, they enjoy material goods, but they cannot, they do not know how to experience and enjoy the main value that God has given to us all: the gift of life. It is not a matter of being naïve: We must work for the quality of life, for a dignified life for all. The rest is part of what Jesus says: “Tonight you are going to be asked, regarding   your life, what you have accumulated…whose will it be?” All of us have seen the capacity for joy that children and even many adults have in spite of living in environments of poverty (provided it is not extreme misery below human dignity). Let us bring to prayer today those scenes that we have had the grace to see and that should lead us to examine: To what extent we have fallen into the consumerism of our society?