In the Gospel we heard a parable. I’d like to share a story. The story goes like this.

There was a king, a very rich king who spent his time going around and visiting different other kings from around the world. And one day, he was back home and he was having a party, and he asked the court jester to entertain him. And the court jester did entertain him, and the king laughed and he roared and he had a wonderful time. And the king was so impressed with this court jester that he called the court jester over and said, “Somehow, you found a way to entertain people so well. There’s a wisdom in that, but my challenge to you would be to find the most foolish person you can find. Seeing that you are wise in your ability to entertain, I want you to find the most foolish person, and take my ring and give my golden ring to the most foolish person you find.”

And so, the court jester took his ring and went on with his life, trying to find the most foolish person. Well, the king was advanced in years and he eventually was on his deathbed, and he called for the court jester again and he said to the court jester how much he had enjoyed his service. And then the court jester felt the liberty to talk to the king and say to the king, “King, you were around the whole world visiting all sorts of wonderful people. Tell me, in your wisdom, how did you prepare yourself for this moment? Now that the Lord is taking you home, how did you prepare yourself for this moment?” And the king thought. The king thought to himself and said out loud, “Well, in fact, I haven’t prepared myself for this very moment. I haven’t prepared myself at all for this. I’ve been travelling around the whole world, visiting other kings, collecting things, and reigning over the world. I’ve never prepared myself for this last moment of death”. The court jester took off the golden ring and gave it back to the king, and said, “You, king. You, king, are the most foolish person I know”.

Interesting. How do we live our lives? How do we prepare ourselves for the most important thing, which is our return to the Lord in paradise? In the Gospel, we heard about the rich man who stored up things for himself only to have his life taken from him that very night. How do we practice living not tied down to the things of this world? In fact, I heard it said that the most important thing of this world is not a thing at all. How do we free ourselves from these things that tie us down, and allow ourselves to grow more closely to Christ Jesus, more closely to our loving God through the Holy Spirit, so that one day when we come to that moment when the Lord takes us home, we can go home freely, not bogged down, not tied down with relationships or frustrations, or any kind of grievances that we have against anybody, but how can we go home to the Lord in freedom? That’s how Christ calls us, to go home to him, go home to his Father, in freedom. Let’s prepare ourselves well and not be foolish.