I’ve always had trouble giving things away, thinking maybe I’ll wear that shirt again sometime or maybe I’ll use that storage bin for something in the future. I’ve had the mentality of “maybe I’ll need it so I might as well keep it” my whole life. So when my wife pointed out to me how much stuff and clothes I actually had, I realized I needed to get rid of some things. But I remembered wearing some shirts on a special occasion or when I was on vacation, and getting rid of them turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be, even though I hadn’t worn them since.
In today’s Gospel Jesus tells the parable of a rich man who had such an abundant harvest that his barns couldn’t handle it. So the rich man decided to build bigger barns to fit everything, so that he would have plenty for years to come. However, Jesus objects saying, “‘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 the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”
Having a lot of material goods doesn’t make you a good person. Rather, we should seek to possess great virtue, see the good in what we have and be willing to give things away that we don’t need so that other people can use them.
This Gospel reminds me to let go of things so as to focus on the most important thing in life like faith and family. I’ve listened to the podcasts of several “successful” people in business and I’ve found a common denominator. They wished they had spent more time with their families. While spending weeks away to grow a company and make lots of money, they found that the money made didn’t equal the time lost. Some missed their children’s graduations, sports games, and other important events.
This realization helped me to overcome the fear of letting things go, and it’s been so freeing. To be able to give up things, to downsize and appreciate that time I have with my wife and soon our kids, is something I thank God for every day.
Siempre me ha costado regalar cosas, pensando que quizás voy a volver a usar esa camisa algún día o que quizás voy a usar ese recipiente para algo en el futuro. Toda mi vida he pensado: “quizás lo voy a necesitar, así que mejor lo conservo”. Así que, cuando mi esposa me señaló la cantidad de cosas y ropa que tenía, me di cuenta de que necesitaba deshacerme de algunas. Pero recordé haber usado algunas camisas en una ocasión especial o cuando estaba de vacaciones, y deshacerme de ellas resultó ser mucho más difícil de lo que pensaba, aunque no las había usado desde entonces.
En el Evangelio de hoy, Jesús cuenta la parábola de un hombre rico que tuvo una cosecha tan abundante que sus graneros no dieron cabida a ella. Así que decidió construir graneros más grandes para que cupiera todo, para tener suficiente durante años. Sin embargo, Jesús objeta: “‘¡Insensato! Esta misma noche vas a morir. ¿Para quién serán todos tus bienes?’ Lo mismo le pasa al que amontona riquezas para sí mismo y no se hace rico de lo que vale ante Dios”.
Tener muchos bienes materiales no te hace buena persona. Más bien, debemos buscar la virtud, ver lo bueno en lo que tenemos y estar dispuestos a dar lo que no necesitamos para que otros puedan usarlo.
Este Evangelio me recuerda que debo dejar ir cosas para centrarme en lo más importante de la vida: la fe y la familia. He escuchado los podcasts de varias personas “exitosas” en los negocios y he encontrado un denominador común. Deseaban haber pasado más tiempo con sus familias. Mientras pasaban semanas fuera para expandir una empresa y ganar mucho dinero, descubrieron que el dinero ganado no compensaba el tiempo perdido. Algunos se perdieron las graduaciones de sus hijos, los partidos deportivos y otros eventos importantes.
Esta comprensión me ayudó a superar el miedo a dejar ir las cosas, y ha sido muy liberador. Poder regalar las cosas, reducir lo que tengo y apreciar el tiempo con mi esposa y, si Dios quiere, pronto con nuestros hijos, es algo por lo que agradezco a Dios todos los días.
Ben Hooper is originally from Maryland, having been adopted from Korea and growing up in the Catholic faith. He went to Franciscan University to dive deeper into his faith and eventually graduated with a degree in Business Management. He loves musical theater, sports, spending time with his wife Lily and their dog Kolbe.
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