Last week, we considered how prayer changes us into the disciples Jesus has called us to be. How prayer – specifically, the Lord’s Prayer – helps us get our bearings and stay the course of discipleship. This week’s gospel about the parable of the rich man who wants to build a bigger barn to store all his grain brings to mind the fourth petition of the Lord’s prayer: “Give us today our daily bread.”

The problem of the so-called rich man in today’s parable is not that he stored the abundance of his possessions beyond some imaginary line between what he absolutely needed and what was excessive.  The problem is that when contemplating what to do with his bounty, not once does he acknowledge it as a gift from God.  Not once does he consider how this bounty might be shared.  No.  It’s all about him: “What should I do, for I have no place to sore my crops?  I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.” (Luke 12: 18) He speaks as though he is an island, wholly responsible for himself and responsible to no one else.

But his ultimate folly is that he mistakenly believes that having more grain than he knew what to do with stored up in his barn would be his ticket to the good life, so that he might “relax, eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12: 19).  But material abundance does not make the good life.  Most studies show that happiness and well-being are tied to income – but only up to a point where basic needs are secured. Still, most of us chase after the mirage beyond that point, believing that if we had just a little more, if we made just a little bit more, then we would truly be comfortable and we could stop worrying about the future.

Jesus knows that our deepest desires for comfort, for security, for safety, for the confidence that we will be okay cannot be found in the false promises of this world.

When we pray as Jesus taught us – “Give us today our daily bread” – we orient our hearts and minds towards the one who provides for all that we need. We remember that every one of us – regardless of our material circumstances – depends only and always on our God for our comfort, security, all that sustains life itself, indeed, our daily bread. And we remember that what has been given by God is not just for me, but given for all. We stay the course by sharing our bounty with those in need.

Thanks be to our God of abundance!