Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 / Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 / Luke 12:13-21
Generally speaking, when we talk about a house, what comes to mind is a place with a few rooms.
It may be a HDB flat, or a condo unit, or a landed property, and possibly even a mansion. Whether it is a flat or a mansion, there would be at least two rooms.
So, in the house where we are staying, which we call home, which is the biggest room?
Obviously, it would be the living room, because that is where the family members would gather, and it is also a place where guests are welcomed.
But if we had a choice to design the layout of our house or home, which would be the biggest room?
Could it be the bedroom, because we want to put a king-size bed there? But other than sleeping, we don't really spend much time there.
Could it be the study room? If we love to read and collect books, and take pride in having a library at home, then maybe the study room would be the biggest.
Or would it be the kitchen? But even if we love to cook, we are not running a restaurant, so the kitchen need not be too big. Also with all that cooking, it is going to be difficult to clean.
And there is no need to talk about the toilets or the store room. Those rooms need not be that big, unless they have unique and odd purposes.
In the gospel parable, we heard of a rich man who had a good harvest from his land, and he didn't have enough room to store his crops.
Then he decided to pull down his barns and build bigger ones so that he could store all the grain and goods in them. And it is all for himself only.
So, for the rich man, the biggest and most important room is not even in his house. It is the barn which is outside his house.
Come to think of it, isn't it strange, that the biggest and most important is not within, but outside.
That would tell us what kind of person that rich man is like.
The teaching point of Jesus in that parable is that when a man stores up treasure for himself instead of making himself rich in the sight of God, then his life is futile. It is like what the 1st reading calls it - vanity of vanities.
So, what does it mean to make ourselves rich in the sight of God?
Let us go back to the discussion on the rooms in our home, about which room is the biggest and which room is important.
The living room is important and possibly the biggest because that is where family life is shared, and it is the first room where our guests step in and it is there we share friendship.
But which room do we think is the heart of the home? Could it be the kitchen? And why is the kitchen the heart of the home?
Whether small or large, the kitchen is the hub of the home. It is where the meals are created, and those meals nourish the bodies, the minds and the souls of the family and friends.
Some say that while life is created in the bedroom, it is certainly lived out in the kitchen.
And the kitchen does not just churn out food. Food is used to express love. Courting couples spend their time over food. Mothers cook for their children.
If we care about someone, we will share our food with them, whether it is preparing it for them, serving it to them or eating it with them.
Jesus said that He is the Bread of Life. In the Eucharist, He invites us to partake of the Bread of Life that He wants to give us.
It is the Bread of life and love that Jesus gives to us so that we too can share life and love with others.
So Jesus uses food to point to life and love, and He also gives us a foretaste of the heavenly eternal banquet where we will rejoice in God’s love and have eternal life.
Food is a language of love, and sharing food and eating together can have a healing effect.
Food is not to be stored in barns outside of the home and only for self-consumption.
Food as a sign of love is to be shared with others and to enrich others.
To be rich is to help others in their need and to share and give of what we have.
That is how we can make ourselves rich in the sight of God and in the sight of others.