13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” 16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
St. Ignatius of Antioch was one of the most important figures in the early Christian Church and is considered an Apostolic Father. The term refers to the main theologians of the first and second centuries who set out the basic doctrines of Christianity and who are accorded a special reverence because they personally knew the apostles. They are key figures in the apostolic succession – the belief that the faith has been handed down, generation after generation, directly from the apostles. We know few details about his life. According to tradition, Ignatius of Antioch was a follower of St. John the Evangelist. He became the leader (or bishop or patriarch) of the first major gentile community (the followers of the new religion were first called “Christians” there), his letters are major theological documents that discuss the Church, the sacraments and the nature of Christ. He was martyred in Rome some time in the early first second century.
The gospel for his feast this year begins with a request from someone in the crowd who asks Jesus to make the person’s brother give him his share of the inheritance. Jesus refuses: his goal is to lead people to God, not to distribute property. Instead, he uses the man’s request as an excuse to warn people against greed. In verse 15, he insists that life is not about owning a lot of things. As so often, he uses a parable to illustrate his point. The story concerns a rich man who has had a first-rate harvest, and we hear his thoughts about this good news. In verse 17, he wonders about what he should do with his harvest, while in the next two verses, we see his decision. Thinking only of himself, he resolves to do what he believes will increase his enjoyment of the following years. Significantly, he uses one form or another of the first person singular, referring only to himself, repeatedly in these two short verses. Clearly, the only thing that interests the man is his own personal satisfaction.
In verse 20, God declares the man a fool: he has devoted much energy to providing for his future, but he will die that very night. He has thought only of himself and forgotten his own mortality as well as the existence of God. He could have helped others with his wealth but only considered what he saw as his own interests. The reading concludes with a statement contrasting two forms of wealth. There are those who think only of material wealth and store up earthly things for themselves but there are others who are “rich toward God”. They understand the proper use of possessions: everyone has basic needs in life, but no one should be greedy and take too much for themselves. This certainly was not the case of St. Ignatius, who devoted himself to God and to spreading Christianity in its earliest, most vulnerable stages. His harvest was of a very different kind from the man in the parable.
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