This might seem a little strange to some of you but the readings for today make me think of Disney’s movie, “The Lion King.” There is a particular scene in the original production that has always been a point of reflection for me ever since I first saw it. I will try to recreate it for you, and hopefully a good number of you will remember it. I’m sure you will remember in the movie when young Simba has to flee the kingdom of his father and run for his life into the jungle. Eventually he meets up with his soon-to-be new friends, Timone and Pumbaa, and at least for a while has a rollicking good time. He was almost able to forget about his father’s death and the terrible evil forces that were controlling his homeland. Almost; but not quite. Right in the middle of his time of “Hakuna Matata,” the messenger from his father’s Kingdom, (Zazu, I believe) finds him and tells him how bad things have become and calls him to come back and fulfill his rightful role as the Lion King. At this point we have the scene of the nearly full grown Simbalooking into the oasis, and seeing his father’s face as his own reflection. Simba realizes in this solemn moment that as much as he would love to stay and continue to enjoy the “good life” with his fun-loving friends, the only real life for him was to fulfill the mission for which he was born. In fact the “good life” was not really life at all but only an illusion-like the illusion spoken about in today’s first reading and by Jesus in the Gospel about the folly of spending so much time building up treasure for oneself on earth only to come to life’s end without ever being able to use it. We need to try to make sure that we are not living by such foolish values, especially because it is so easy for us today to get caught up in the illusion of living the good life. Ironically it is the one who spends himself hoarding earthly treasure who ends up with nothing. By the same token the only way that we can be sure that we can keep all that we have been blessed with on earth through all eternity is to give it away before it’s too late.
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