First Reading Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23
Vanity of vanities, the Preacher 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 3:1-5.9-11
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 the 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 Jesus, "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."

© 2010 Vienna International Religious Centre


In today’s reading feuding brothers get a short answer from Jesus. He refuses to get involved in their dispute and they are left to resolve the issue themselves. However, Jesus is a master at turning a question into an opportunity for teaching. And so he follows up his comments with a parable.

The rich man at the heart of the narrative is feeling good. Not only has he good crop bearing land, but he’s also an excellent farmer with a surplus of corn and other goods. He believes bigger barns to store his ‘riches’ will set him up for life.

The rich man pictures his future. He will live a life of ease; food and goods to hand mean he can sit back and eat, drink and make merry with not a cloud on the horizon. Sadly he doesn’t seem so smart about spiritual matters and fails to consider God or anyone else’s needs.

The rich man completely overlooked God, but God didn’t forget him. That night was to be the rich man’s last on earth. And it didn’t look as though he was heading for heaven!

In this parable Jesus is not criticising the man for being wealthy. But he is commenting on the man’s attitude to God and his fellow man and how he handles his wealth.

Luke follows up this theme in the book of Acts where he reports the believers sharing their goods with one another (Acts 2: 44-45). They also sold their property and possessions to give to those in need.

The church believed it was right and proper to share with others as a practical demonstration of love. Mutual love was plainly not something this rich man considered. But Jesus taught that this was the only way for his followers to behave.

• In all his careful business plans and decisions the rich man gave little thought to God and his fellow man. How do you plan your life? When decisions need to be made, whose guidance do you seek?
• Consider Jesus’ statement ‘a person’s true life is not made up of the things he owns’. What things and attitudes make up your life?
• What can we learn from this passage about healthy and unhealthy attitudes to money?
• Why does Jesus call the man in the parable a ‘fool’?

Use the words from Colossians 3:1-5 to inspire a time of prayer with the Lord.


Consider how you can make Jesus’ advice practical and ‘store up riches in heaven’ (Matthew 6:19-21). What do you think makes a person rich in God’s eyes?

Spend some time quietly before God and let him reveal his riches in your life.

© 2010 United Bible Societies