The Hoarder

" Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, ' Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.' Then Jesus said to the crowd, ' Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist in possessions.' Then he told them a parable. 'There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ' What shall I do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grains and other goods.' But God said to him, 'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?' Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for the themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.' "Luke 12 : 13-21.]

I have told the story in this space before, of my own father who stored up his earthly treasures. It was as if he had a contest with himself about how much he could tuck away.  One morning, a few years ago, he awoke, and  had his first cup of coffee in the morning. Then he came to the room where my mother was, and she saw that he had broken out in a sweat, his complexion had turned gray and he could barely speak. She called for an ambulance, but before it arrived, he was gone.

Where the day before, he had been the picture of health, the next day, he died of a massive heart attack. And, so all of his hoarded treasure could not save him. And he did not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

My father did not believe in generosity with his money or possessions. He and my mother used to tell me, 'We do not give our money away. You need to think of yourself first.'  They were telling me, do NOT to give to charity.

A Wise Advisor once told me that if you are ungenerous with your money, with your possessions, then you are ungenerous in all other ways.

Growing up, my parents never hugged me or said, "I love you."  Mother Teresa said that Sin is the inability to Love. My parents were stingy with their Love.

If I did not eat the four day old left-overs that passed for dinner, and my mother would move towards the kitchen to get me a piece of bread, my father would say to my mother, " That is IT! Do NOT feed her!" They did not nourish me with earthly food.

I tried to do as they did, and hoard what I needed. I hoarded some candy I had received for a holiday, by hiding it under a chair in my room. But that did not work. I forgot about the candy for months. It became hard and moldy. My mother found it and, furious with me, threw it away. But, I was hungry for a lot more than earthly food.

My father used harsh names for everyone. He seemed to be angry at the world. This attitude frightened me. Maybe he was angry with me? He was stingy with his compassion and tolerance for others.

He used to say that we were English, and that the English were superior in every way. But I knew that we were also part Irish, so that part about being English was not true. So, if part of me was Irish, was I supposed to lie about it ? He was stingy with the Truth.

I learned  a lot growing up, but not what my father wanted me to learn:

I learned that when you hoard your possessions, then you care more about things than God. Sometimes I was afraid that my father loved his money better than he loved me. Jesus said, [If you worship wealth], "you are not rich in what matters to God." St. Paul said, " Put to death the greed that is idolatry." [ Col. 3: 1-5].  

I learned that if you judge others, you do  not love. St. Paul said, " Here, there is not Greek and Jew, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all." [Col. 3: 9-11].My father's biases shamed me.  Who am I, to be better or worse than anyone else?

I learned that if you tell yourself little conceits to make yourself feel superior to others, then you are putting that Lie before God. St. Paul in Colossians says, "Stop lying." Mother Teresa said, If you lie, then you love the lie more than you love God.

I learned that if you refuse to do acts of charity, then you are not loving the God in everyone. Revelations says, " The good that you do stays with God". That is, your good works are not only for this life, but they follow you everywhere. Your good works are also Eternal because if you do good unto others, you do it for God.

Father Christopher M. Taino said, " I always think of the roadblocks that I put in the way of God. I hold onto anger, or pain, or jealousy or rage or bad habits or laziness; and [then], God is put second."

But when I give freely, generously, of myself to others, I love the God in others. Then, I am truly loving God; because what I give to others, I give to God.



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St. Paul said,