Acting a Fool. Luke 12 and when we rely on rules to solve spiritual crises
There's always a bit of a sting when a priest or someone in authority corrects us for asking the wrong question or being too bold, especially when we approached them out of respect for their authority.
This Sunday, we'll hear the Gospel reading from Luke 12 where someone demands Jesus instruct his brother to share an inheritance. Imagine yourself in that situation. At the time, the firstborn was entitled to a greater proportion of inherited wealth—typically land—in line with their responsibilities to protect and preserve the family's well-being. Similarly, everything within Catholic Canon Law aims for the good of souls.
Just as many of us are accustomed to seeking a priest's advice when life gets difficult, a rabbi would have been the perfect person to help settle a family dispute during Jesus' time. So, imagine the surprise when Jesus replied, "Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?"
There's always a bit of a sting when a priest or someone in authority corrects us for asking the wrong question or being too bold, especially when we approached them out of respect for their authority.
Let's consider some reasons why the man might have wanted a larger share of the wealth. Perhaps he was hungry, or embarrassed to be "lesser," or maybe he was thinking of his own wife and children. However, I rarely find that such motivations are ever purely selfless. Even if he approached Jesus out of legitimate need, there was likely an inkling of jealousy and greed.
During a pilgrimage to Rome in 2021, I found myself stepping over or around several homeless individuals to enter the basilicas. I stopped to ask a priest a seemingly righteous question: "Father, what should I say to a homeless person?" In my heart, I expected him to commend me for thinking of the poor. But that wasn't his response.
He gently chided me and told me to take a seat. The priest completely bypassed my question, instead reminding me that I am to consider every individual as someone the Father equally desires to see in heaven, someone Jesus equally died for on the cross, and someone Mary sees as her own child.
Initially, I expected the priest to provide a simple, standard operating procedure for how to greet the homeless and move on without being rude. Spiritually, I was acting the "fool"—a term Jesus uses in this story to refer to someone who acts without thinking about God and His wisdom.
Neither the man pleading with Jesus to judge a family dispute, nor I, recognized we were facing a spiritual crisis. We both, in our own ways, asked the Church to address our personal discomfort. We both took a question of legitimate justice and demanded an answer that ultimately focused on the self.
This Sunday, as we listen to the Gospel, let's ask the Lord to illuminate the moments where we have treated the Church and its authority as a means to justify ourselves. Are we using our faith to lift ourselves up as arbiters of truth, or are we truly answering the call to step out of our comfort zones and be present with the needs of others?
