God? Wealth? When the situation comes, let’s leave wealth and choose only God.
Selvaraj Soosaimanikam : Vatican
(Texts I. Am 8: 4-7 II. 1 Tim 2: 1-8 III. Luke 16: 1-13)
A greedy man lived in a village. He dreamed of getting rich and becoming very rich in this town. He was also greedy to earn by working hard. So he left his native country and went to another country with the intention of making a lot of money. On reaching the new country, he met the king of that country and told him all the desires of his heart. Agreeing to help him, the king said to the emperor, “There are fertile fields everywhere in our country. You can take as much of that land as you want. But, for that you have to participate in a competition.. That competition is that first you have to give us 500 gold coins. From 6 am to 6 pm you have to go around whatever lands you want. As much land as you can get around is yours. But you should be back at the same place where the match started by 6 pm. If you can’t come back like that, you won’t get anything.” Hearing this, the avarice agreed with great joy. The match started at 6 am. The king also came to see the match. He started running. At the starting point is a beautiful mansion and a river around it. Enchanted by the beauty of the mansion, he runs around it. He spent many hours on it. Finish around the mansion and relax. Then he started running again with excitement.. Some distance away he saw a garden full of many flowers. Enchanted by the beauty of that garden, he came around and made it his own. However, his greed was not satisfied. The vineyard, the beautiful pool, the various fruitful trees, he ran around everything he saw. He kept running without even realizing that time was passing. He finally stopped his run at 5 pm. Realizing that there was only an hour left, he started running back towards where the match had started. But, due to hunger and constant running, his body was exhausted and his body became hot and his nose started to bleed. Even though he could not walk, he continued to run. When he finally arrived at the king’s place, he said, “All the places I have been around have become my own. Now I am the richest person in my town. Nayara. “There is no one else who can surpass me,” he said with great pride, and fainted and died. Then, the king ordered his servants, “Dug a 6-foot hole in the ground around him and bury him, bury him.”
Today we celebrate the 25th Sunday of Lent. Today’s sayings advise us to be very careful in handling wealth. Amos condemns the unrighteous who, with their inordinate attachment to wealth, amass money in wrong ways and destroy the poor and oppressed. Let’s read the first verse that explains this and deepen our spiritual thoughts. Hear this, you oppressors of the poor and the oppressed of the land; ‘When will the new moon end for us to sell grains? When will the sabbath end for selling wheat at a good price? We can make the log smaller, the weight stone heavier, and rig the balance with a fake; You can buy the poor for a penny and the needy for two shoes; Are you planning to sell wheat flakes too? ‘ The Lord swears by Jacob’s pride: “I will never forget one of these things of theirs.
In the way of Prophet Amos, we see many social revolutionaries rising up with faith to condemn the economic imbalances in today’s world and the money crocodiles that are responsible for it. A missionary of the Church of Jesus who went on vacation recently shared with me a sad thing that is happening in India. Namely, in the Indian state of Jharkhand, he expressed concern that the indigenous people’s habitats in the hilly areas are being encroached upon and driven to other places, and only a few are being paid very little. He also lamented that mafia gangs are staging such unjust acts there to loot the natural resources. Sister Valsa John, who united the people in the land recovery activities of the indigenous people, was brutally killed by a gang of 20 to 25 people on November 15, 2011. Following him last year, father Stan Swamy was also arrested and inhumanely murdered in a hospital. It is noteworthy that both of them fought against the injustices done to the natives.
Adani Group is at No. 2 and TATA Group is at No. 2 position behind Mukesh Ambani Group in terms of highest investment value in our Indian stock market. The investment value of TATA group in the stock market is 21.73 lakh crore. Adani Group at number 2 is worth Rs 19.44 lakh crore. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Group is at the 3rd place with Rs 17.89 lakh crore. The value of Adani Port and Economic Zone increased by 19 per cent to Rs 1.77 lakh crore.
In a study published by AFR, an Asian bank based in Mauritius, India is the sixth richest country in the world. Also, the list of the top 10 richest countries in the world includes Britain, Germany, India, France, Canada, Australia and Italy. According to this report, the total wealth of the rich people in the world is 215 lakh crores of rupees and the number of rich people who have wealth worth several crores of rupees (Multi millionaires) is 5,84,000 people in the world. It is very painful that all the wealth of the world is concentrated in a few hundred people, and hundreds of millions of people in the world are suffering from poverty, famine and starvation and are dying cruelly!
In today’s Gospel, the Lord warns us that we cannot serve God and wealth at the same time. He tells us a parable about a prudent householder and then instructs us on how we should be careful with wealth. Now let’s listen to the passage meditatively. Therefore, I say to you; Find friends for yourself with dishonest wealth. When that is over they will accept you in permanent accommodation. He who is trustworthy in the least is trustworthy in the greatest. He who is dishonest in the smallest will be dishonest in the greatest. Who will trust you with real wealth if you are untrustworthy in dealing with dishonest wealth? If you become unfaithful in handling what belongs to others, who will give you what belongs to you? “No householder can serve two masters; For he will hate the one and love the other; Or he depends on one and neglects the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Here, the words of Jesus, ‘Seek yourselves friends with dishonest riches’ are worthy of our attention. The lesson of time is that many rich people who have saved crores and crores have died due to epidemics like Corona, natural disasters and heart attacks. Nothing in this world is permanent for anyone and only when humans realize that one day we will leave behind everything we have put together, then everything here will become common property. Only a few who realize this are willing to share their wealth with others. Last April, Chennai-based IT company Ideas2. A news broke that the company gifted 100 of its employees with a brand new Maruti Suzuki car. The company has done this as a reward for the hard work of its employees. Also, the company received Rs. 15 crore has been spent. Speaking about this, Murali Vivekanandan, Chairman of the company, said, “The first Indian IT company to gift 100 cars to 100 best employees. We are very proud to be a company. All of them have played a major role in making the company travel on the path of growth and success. Each of the employees consider it as their own company and have been working here for a long time. So we share our assets with our employees and treat them like friends,” he said.
‘Aruthselvam Selvathul Selvam Akhatselvam Puriyar Kannum Ula’ (Kural 241) Even the mean-spirited wretch may have accumulated wealth in crores; But Valluvar says that wealth is no match for Arut Selvam. Therefore, nothing will come of the wealth we accumulate, rather, its true benefit is revealed only when we share it with others. Therefore, our excessive attachment to wealth alienates us from God. And attachment to wealth destroys attachment to God, but attachment to God destroys attachment to wealth. So when it comes to God…wealth…let’s leave wealth and choose only God. Let us pray to God for the blessings on this day.