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By Fr. Roy Cimagala
Chaplain
Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)
Talamban, Cebu City
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
THE man in Luke 12:13-21 (Gospel of Monday, 29th Week, Ordinary Time) must have thought he had found the perfect financial planner. He interrupted Jesus in the middle of a serious teaching and said, in effect, "Lord, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
Perhaps he expected Christ to serve as a lawyer, judge, or mediator. Instead, Christ diagnosed something far deeper than a property dispute. He exposed a heart quietly infected by greed.
Then comes the unforgettable parable. A rich farmer harvests a bumper crop and immediately faces what many today would call a "first-world problem." His barns are too small.
So, he draws up an ambitious expansion project. Demolish the old warehouses. Build larger ones. Store everything. Then retire early with the famous slogan: "Eat, drink, and be merry."
He sounds remarkably modern. If he lived in today's Philippines, he would probably post drone videos of his new warehouse on social media, upload motivational quotes about "manifesting abundance," and invite followers to enroll in an online course entitled, “How I Retired Before Forty”. The likes would multiply faster than the harvest.
God, however, is not impressed by viral success. The divine verdict arrives without warning: "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded of you." The larger barns suddenly become very small. His investments remain behind while he departs empty-handed.
The point is not that wealth is evil. Scripture consistently praises honest labor, prudent planning, and responsible stewardship. Material goods are genuine blessings when they serve the good of persons and glorify God.
The problem begins when possessions quietly begin possessing their owner. Instead of managing wealth, wealth begins managing him.
That danger is subtle because greed rarely introduces itself honestly. It wears respectable clothes. It calls itself financial security, sensible planning, or simply wanting the best for one's family. Those goals are good in themselves. Yet they become distorted when they replace trust in God with trust in bank accounts, investment portfolios, land titles, or business empires.
Our culture provides endless examples. Many Filipinos work heroically to support their families, and their sacrifice deserves admiration. Yet alongside this generosity runs another temptation.
We sometimes measure success by the size of the house, the latest SUV, designer handbags displayed online, or lavish celebrations financed by loans that may outlive the party itself. We joke that appearances must be maintained even when savings disappear. Sometimes the joke is uncomfortably close to reality.
The Gospel reminds us that every blessing carries a mission. What we receive is never meant to stop with us. Wealth is entrusted so that others may also benefit. The richest person is not the one who accumulates the most but the one whose generosity reflects the abundance of God. Charity enlarges the heart far more effectively than bigger barns enlarge storage space.
There is another irony worth noticing. The rich man constantly says, "my crops," "my barns," "my grain," "my goods." He speaks to himself but never to God. He has an excellent business plan but no prayer life. He carefully counts sacks of grain but never counts his blessings. He knows market values but forgets eternal values.
Christ therefore invites us to become rich in what truly lasts. Faith, honesty, justice, generosity, purity of heart, and love survive the grave. These are investments no economic crisis can erase and no inflation can devalue.
Perhaps the safest barn is not the one with the strongest locks but the one with an open door. The grain shared with the hungry reaches heaven before we do. And unlike earthly storage facilities, God's treasury never runs out of space.
