What we need

A famous singer once satirized people who ask God for material goods they do not really need (a Mercedes-Benz was the featured item). Within a few days of recording this song, she died of a drug overdose, reputedly upset that her current boyfriend did not show up for a date.

In today’s Gospel (Luke 12:13-21), somebody in the crowd asks our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Messiah and the Eternal Word of the Father, to take his side in a family squabble about an inheritance.

In our day-to-day lives, it is very easy for us to become focused on things that are truly unimportant. We may think they are important and they might be really nice things (e.g., a Mercedes, a date, a windfall) but in the big picture we know that they are not important.

As our Lord says in the parable later in today’s Gospel, we can be materially prosperous and prudent, but we could still die tomorrow and all of these material things will slip from our grasp forever.

As we begin this new week, may we try to keep focused on what is truly important, what we truly need: most especially, becoming better disciples of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by his grace.