Let Go And Let God

First Reading: Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:23
Vanity of vanities, Qoheleth says. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity! For so it is that a man who has laboured wisely, skilfully and successfully must leave what is his own to someone who has not toiled for it at all. This, too, is vanity and great injustice; for what does he gain for all the toil and strain that he has undergone under the sun? What of all his laborious days, his cares of office, his restless nights? This, too, is vanity.

Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-11
Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.

That is why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life: fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god; and never tell each other lies. You have stripped off your old behaviour with your old self, and you have put on a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its creator; and in that image there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised or the uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and free man. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything.

Gospel: Luke 12:13-21
A man in the crowd said to him, ‘Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance’. ‘My friend,’ he replied-’who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?’ Then he said to them, ‘Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs’.
Then he told them a parable: ‘There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time”. But God said to him, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?”. So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.’

Reflection:
By Anabelle Payod-Balla

I know a friend who believes in using what money she has now and make the most out of it. She does know the importance of saving but for her there is something more important than having money sit in the bank. She lends it away to those who come to her for help, even to people whom she knows may not be able to pay her back. Or she spends it on something that gives more meaning to life. Her reason? She will never know if tomorrow may come so she’d rather seize every moment to make a difference. She lives her life each day and makes them worthwhile by making use of whatever she has today.

She is in control of the things she owns and I like that about her. I like to be in control of my material possessions and not the other way around. As we all know, material things have compelling ways of controlling some of us. It can be an obsession, manipulating the way we think and behave. Beware of these earthly things. Be on top of them and use them in a way that will make people feel God’s loving care.

The Second Reading is telling us to seek the things that are above. Let us be wise then in using earthly things. The First Reading made this clear when it said, without God they are all meaningless work.

Let’s be in control and use our material possessions on things that will give more glory to God. And don’t worry of not having enough. I am sure God’s supply will never run out. And let’s not count what’s left with us at the end of the day, for what matters most is not what we have but how much we’ve given and done for others. This is what will give us life.

Father, the things You prepared for us are far more valuable and lasting. Please help us to cut the rope that ties us to earthly things. Help us to seek those that can bring us to Your kingdom. With the Holy Spirit, please direct our ways and give us the courage to fight the temptations here on earth. Amen.

Let go and let God. A price far better than anything on earth awaits us above.