Today's Message: 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Ecclesiastes 1: 2; 2: 21-23;  Colossians 3: 1-5, 9-11; Luke 12: 13-21 

Today’s readings all point us in one direction: toward God.  So I can again ask myself as I must do frequently:  is my life pointing to my possessions or to what matters to God?  Am I using my gifts, my possessions, my talents, to be useful and shared with those around me and those in need?  Am I too attached to ‘things’ the I consider precious?  Do I realize that my life is a gift and all gifts must be shared with those in need?  What do I consider ‘idols’ in my life?  Some working definitions of idols are:  an object of extreme’ devotion; a false god…a likeness of something obsolete: pretender, impostor.  In the Bible, idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than God as if it were God.  Deuteronomy 5: 6-10 states the first two commandments given to Moses by God:  “I, The Lord, am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.  You shall not have other gods besides Me.  You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them.  For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishments for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate Me, down to the third and fourth generation but bestowing mercy, down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

I must review this frequently to see if I have made anything or anyone so important in my life, an idol, so that they are replacing God or making this ‘idol’ primary to my attention and in my life.

Sunday Homily Helps summarizes the readings in this way, putting a perspective on one’s thinking about material possessions: “There is no one-amount-fits-all guideline for distinguishing between need and greed, between legitimate enjoyment and selfish extravagance.”  Today’s readings, however, warn us:  ‘Take care to guard against all greed…one’s life does not consist of possessions.’” (Lk 13:15)

Today’s passage from Ecclesiastes is a good introduction to the parable of the rich fool in Luke’s gospel.  Tradition associates this work with King Solomon actually reaffirming the his famous dream found in 1 Kings 3: 5-14.  Ecclesiastes constantly promotes gratitude to God as the most important temperament in each person’s life.  Here it shows how one person constantly is preoccupied with projects  and hard at work.  Even at night his mind is preoccupied in solving problems and thinking  of future projects.  In the end, he discovers that his obsession leads him only to sadness and misery.  Any worldly obsession never leads to complete satisfaction.  In the end death meets everyone.  We can see this so clearly in Jesus’ Gospel parable today.

Paul is asking the Colossians of their Baptismal calling: if the people believe that Jesus died and rose and that each person is raised with Christ, then their behavior must evidence this strict code of love that Jesus ordered.  So often Paul used lists of what good and bad behavior entails and what they should rid in themselves.  One is immorality, we feel we can live forever, especially when we are young or not willing to face or believe in death as we live.  Also impurity, passion, evil desire and greed that Paul states is idolatry.  Because we have been raised to new life we should  seek the things of heaven rather than things of earth.  So is my life a life living so people can see Jesus in me?  This is a good and constant reflection needed each day for me.

Throughout Luke’s gospel, he is always mindful of the hurting and the poor.  He also reminds his readers how it is very serious when they are attracted to their possessions as being the ‘true’ source of security.  Most often this can be rooted in a person’s fear and seen in the desire to greed, acquiring more and more.  Msgr. Chet Michael constantly stated that the three evils that tempt each person are Power, Possession and Pleasure…Fr. Richard Rohr adds Prestige to this list.  None of these provide the security we desire.  

Jesus presents a parable of the rich man who seeks to secure his future by obtaining more and more wealth than he already had.  We must see that the issue Jesus is bringing up is not the wealth itself…the rich man is not striving for more and more so he can help others or take care of not only the needs of his family but those of the poor, the hurting and the destitute.  Jesus states emphatically that the rich man wants to store up more and more wealth so that he can live a life of extravagant living without any worry or care for anyone else.   So the rich mans’s definition of  wealth is that the more one possesses, the more secure the person will be.   This always leads to greed, ‘this is mine and I have to protect it at all costs.’   He faces one big obstacle:  humans are not in control of their lives.  I do not know when I will die…I do not know when sickness will come…I do not know when people close to me will hurt, suffer, even die.  There is no such thing as being secure against the reality of death.  We come into the world when God wishes and we  leave the world when God wishes.  So the real important question is what matters to God?  How can I be ‘rich’ in God’s eyes?   Now with this in mind, one might think that they can just sit and wait or not even try.  Each person was put here to live their life.  As Jesus showed us, we are live our lives in love because we are loved, redeemed sinners.  So am I living my life in a balanced way.  I am called to balance my time, energy, talents, skills and resources.  It is very easy to be selfish with these.  But balance requires moderation at the same time.  What is our checklist?  Again, Sunday Homily Helps gives a good one:

• “Sincere gratitude for what we have makes us less likely to covet what we don’t.
• Making a ‘gratitude list,’ adding to it regularly, and rereading it is a terrific spiritual exercise.
• Often look around wherever you are, whether inside or outdoors.  Mentally list things for which you are grateful.’  

We are going or will be celebrating the Eucharist.  The word Eucharist means ‘Thanksgiving’.  I do have so much to be thankful for, especially this Eucharistic celebration.  So I reflect on:

• What helps me to release worry and uneasiness from my life?
• Where have I experienced greed?  What has it ever done for me?  What has it ever done to me?
• What constitutes happiness in my world? 
• What will go with me when I enter God’s kingdom?  Spend some deep time reflecting on this question.

Sacred Space 2019 states:

   “Think of moments when you have been most spiritually alert.  Times when you were paying attention to things and disposed to welcome people or change.  Jesus seems to be getting at this kind of mentality, this kind of heart that stays awake.  It’s not something for the clever only:  it’s for everybody.  I pray to have alertness and readiness for a new prompting of the Spirit, for God to work some new grace in my life.

   What helps me remain alert to the Spirit?  I pray for awareness of habits and distractions that dull my spiritual sense.”