Our first reading this weekend comes from perhaps the most “pessimistic and cynical” book in the Bible – Ecclesiastes or also called Qoheleth. Its pessimism is summarized in the statement “Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!” The background of the statement is not that material things have no value in themselves but its greedy acquisition. The greedy man becomes so anxiously preoccupied with acquiring them. At night, he becomes restless and worried for someone might steal his wealth. In death, he must leave everything behind. Even when he can pass them on to his heirs, there is no guarantee that they will not squander them. Thus, the greedy acquisition and selfish hoarding of material things are useless and not worth the effort. They are vanities!

With this background, we can appreciate the lessons of the Gospel. A rich man is given a bountiful harvest, yet he desires nothing but to keep them all to himself. He becomes so consumed with the thought that since he worked hard for the harvest, he deserves to use them for his own benefit and just “rest, eat, drink, be merry!” God calls him “fool!”

He is fool to think that the harvest is his. Six times he uses the pronoun “I” and five times the word “my.” He forgets that God is the source of his bountiful harvest, and that he is only a steward. He thinks that everything he has is solely the product of his sweat, tears and blood. He forgets that his harvest became bountiful precisely because of God’s graciousness. He utters no words of gratitude to the Lord.

He is fool to think that the fruits of his labor are only for his own benefits. He gives no thought to the workers who helped him farm the land, to the poor people around his community who probably are not blessed to have a bountiful harvest that year, or to the young who probably need support to start their own farming business. He fails to go beyond himself and his needs. His possessions possessed him.

Finally, he is fool to think that he still has so many years to spend in merrymaking. He plans on building new barns and warehouses to store his wealth but does not give a thought to investing in things that truly matter. He forgets that his days are numbered, and it is something he cannot be in control of.

Our readings give us not only a warning but also an invitation – be generous! When we are blessed by the Lord, we are called to be blessings to others. We are not only recipients of God’s blessings, we are conduits! Everything that is given to us - our time, talents, and treasures - must be broken, shared, and given away, just as how Christ’s body is broken, shared and given to us in the Eucharist. In turn, we are blessed again by our very acts of generosity, for it is only in self-giving that we find our total selffulfillment. Indeed, to be able to give is a gift in itself for it leads us to salvation. Amen.