Barns which blind

The text today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary taken from the Gospel of Luke reminds us that one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. Cyril of Alexandria, a fifth century church father, is quoted by blogger worryisuseless describing the character of the person who is satisfied with few things and keeps his hand open to the poor. The faith of this person is placed like Father Abraham in Providence. We are encouraged by Paul to understand that righteousness before God is not a matter of our good deeds. Some of the audience to which Paul speaks, then and now, seek to do enough for God to avoid His displeasure and possible retribution. The words of the Canticle of Zachariah today proclaim the mercy and Love of God through which we can be in righteous relationship with God. This trust in God is in the witness of Zachariah as he declares the birth of his son John to be in accord with the fulfillment of the Promise made to Abraham. Dick Hauser, S.J. invites us to look around at the cloud of witnesses who have marked our salvation history. These believers have rejected modern secular materialistic conditioning which calls to us to build up our barns for our self satisfaction in housing, education or retirement as we become blind to those who Cyril of Alexandria, Evangelist Luke and Jesus remind us are the “poor of Yahweh”.