To whom will all this piled-up wealth of yours go? That is the way it works with the man who grows rich for himself instead of growing rich in the sight of God.

In today’s Gospel reading we hear the Lord’s exhortation to Trust in God and not in possessions. This seems so very poignant as we get ever closer to Christmas. It seems that our modern society has made Christmas all about getting and giving things! Our modern Christmas experience also seems to tell us that giving things that you can buy on sale is the way to go since then you can have more for yourself. I realize that our Christian religion has the story about the Three Wise Men who gave gifts to the Christ Child as a way of expressing their adoration and praise. I suspect that this story may have led us to believe that things – gifts – are the way to express love for someone and celebrate Christmas.

All this got me to thinking. We spend about the first 50 to 70 years of our lives amassing things and then the last years of our lives trying to get rid of things. It seems that it is only when we get older that we realize that things are a burden and don’t grant us a longer life or mortality. I think that psychologically our behavior of amassing things is due to our uncertainty about the length of life. Things also seem to be symbols of human success. The more things I have, the more successful I feel since I know that people measure success by the amount of things I have.

Having said all of this, I would raise the questions that are suggested in Matthew’s Gospel when he shares the Jesus parable about the imprudent rich man: What does it mean to be rich in the sight of God? What do I have to do in order to be rich in God’s sight?

Jesus suggests, I believe, that to be rich means to be a successful human being. To be a successful human being, in God’s sight, means to live as God intended when He     created human beings and have loving relationships that can create wonderful memories.

I have shared with you many times that it is my belief that the only things that we take with us into the next life are our memories. Therefore having a wealth of happy memories can make one right in the sight of God. Think about it. If I come and stand before the throne of God and present Him with an abundance of good memories that are based on living as Jesus did, that is with love, respect, kindness and goodness towards others, I know that I will be rich in His sight. Why? Because He will know that I truly understood the revelation he made to me through His Son Jesus!