God said to the rich man in Jesus’ parable: “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
The Gospel reading reflects perfectly the futility that Qoheleth expresses in the first reading: “Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and yet to another who has not labored over it, he must leave property.” The things of this world ultimately don’t belong to me; tearing down one barn to build another, as the rich man does in Jesus’ parable, what foolishness is that? Certain aphorisms come to mind: “Man proposes, God disposes.” And “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”
God help me to take in fully what I have heard in these readings. There is a certain comfort in knowing all of my restless efforts to succeed—to make more money, to make something take flight, to build a bigger barn—are all vanity. “Even at night,” Qoheleth says, “his mind is not at rest.” In that realization, there is rest. There is in it a moment for a world-weary sigh in which I can set my eyes not on material goods but on “what matters to God.”
Because I don’t always have the consolation of your presence, Lord, call me back throughout the day to rest in you. Let me walk by your side, and turn my gaze toward what you see, and attend to it. In some ways, today is a double chance for rest: first, in that I keep holy the Sabbath; and second, in that Jesus asks us not to toil in vain for the things of this world but to be rich in what matters to God.