HOMILY FOR 18TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME AUGUST 4, 2019

Woe to the family that does not anticipate retirement, make provisions for health care and reduce its credit card debt.  Practicality entreats us to model ourselves on the squirrels.  In summer and fall, they gather nuts for sustenance in winter and spring.  We, too, must prepare prudently investing in annuities and 410Ks, or, if those are not available to us, we try to go without some luxuries today so we may expand our savings accounts for tomorrow.  Forthright foresightedness is  a top priority for all–or, at least for those among us who don’t have to live hand-to-mouth on a weekly basis.  Either way, we’re probably befuddled by Jesus’ parable.  No precautions for the future? Are there not retirement scenarios we can dream about?  Goals for creative hobbies, lengthier leisure time, Church and community involvement?  Hmmmm. 

We mustn’t see today’s Scripture readings as a threat to these very human concerns,  but we must engage in conversation with the Bible to assess our priorities among our passions, properties and possessions.  

Jesus isn’t against us having things—in fact, he’s not against us at all.  He is the Savior who is FOR US, WITH US and IN US.  He invites us to celebrate life as we allow Him to diminish our worries and anxieties.  He does that, in part, by endowing us with faith, intelligence and talents to make our way in this world including our relationship with things. Jesus invites us to honor the gift of work to procure for ourselves, our children and dependents the necessities of food, clothing and shelter.  Beyond that, the Holy Spirit engages us in what we buy in the way these things reflect our personalities, our likes and dislikes.  What we own—and how we take care of what we own– is an expression of ourselves and even our beliefs.  For all that, Jesus invites us not to take our money, our belongings or ourselves too seriously.   He bestows on humanity intelligence and the ability to cultivate a sense of humor.  Here are a few jokes that might put us at ease:  Who was the world’s first stockbroker? Noah.  Noah?  Yes, he floated his stock while the world was in liquidation.

Once an investor asked his advisor: Is all my money truly gone?
No, of course not. It’s just with somebody else!

Dear Friend,  I’ve come to realize Money can buy a House…But not a Home; Money can buy a Bed…………..But not a Good Night’s Sleep; Money can buy a Clock…………But not Time; Money can buy you a Book….But not Knowledge; Money can buy you Medicine…….But not Health; Money can buy you Sex…………But not Love.  So you see money isn’t everything. It often causes pain and suffering. I tell you all this because I am your Friend, and as your Friend I want to take away your pain and suffering.  Send all your money to me and let me suffer for you.

The cynicism of Qoheleth in the Book of Ecclesiastes offers helpful insights as well. The things we treasure, what we work hard to have and appreciate, may not be treasured or appreciated by those who inherit what we have, what we saved for. Some people prioritize a comfortable home, others money for travel.  Some value collections of books or recordings, paintings, momentos, Nativity sets and Statues of the Saints –others prefer large screen smart tv’s and sound systems, others gardening and landscaping. IF the next generation doesn’t love what we love, what do we leave them?  Do we owe them anything at all?

Jesus says the key is to know that for all that we value, know what matters most to God.  Scriptures make it clear that God cares about relationships –ours with God and others.  Clearly God delights in every human being, all animals and all creation because God sustains all with a life force that engages all.  As Saint Paul once said to the Greeks at the Areopagus: “In God we live and move and have our being.” This is the concept that grounds all faith and therefore must be the foundation of all our lives’ choices: Thanksgiving for life itself and responding to God’s graciousness by consciously reminding ourselves that our lives are not our own; that ownership is always and forever will be temporary; that what we can or cannot afford has nothing to do with our innate dignity or the place or state of being that Christ offers us here and now and what Christ reserves for us in heaven.  Practically speaking, what we think we own are God’s gifts to us to be shared– to learn from and to engage with others. 

Our pray for today is for Prudence.  The more commercials and pop up adds on our computer bombard our psyches, the more we need the Spirit of Wisdom. We must not throw caution to the winds but exercise cool judgment.  Our culture readily cultivates jealousies and envies, manipulating us to equal or exceed our neighbors’ buying power. It tempts us to assess  ourselves and others on the quality of our clothes, cars, homes or apartments.  None of these things last, but our relationships will.

An act of love resounds unto eternity. Today we recognize that what we buy and recycle has a much greater impact on others and future generations than we may like to acknowledge.  The Spirit of God and Jesus’ love will guide us if we attend to their Holy Spirt.  Remember, our Eucharists direct us to cultivate community, to care for ourselves and others without material excess so that not only our futures but future generations can benefit from what we own, what we accomplish, what we recycle, how we care for the air and water and the animals with whom we share them, and , equally important,  how we may inspire them to allow Jesus to expand their lives with faith, hope and love.  And the greatest of these is love.

Reading 1 Ecc 1:2; 2:21-23

Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth,
vanity of vanities!  All things are vanity!

Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill,
and yet to another who has not labored over it,
he must leave property.
This also is vanity and a great misfortune.
For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart
with which he has labored under the sun?
All his days sorrow and grief are his occupation;
even at night his mind is not at rest.
This also is vanity.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17

R. (1) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
 are as yesterday, now that it is past,
 or as a watch of the night.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
You make an end of them in their sleep;
 the next morning they are like the changing grass,
Which at dawn springs up anew,
but by evening wilts and fades.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Teach us to number our days aright,
 that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
 Have pity on your servants!
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
 that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
 prosper the work of our hands for us!
 Prosper the work of our hands!
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Reading 2 Col 3:1-5, 9-11

Brothers and sisters:
If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died,
and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ your life appears,
then you too will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire,
and the greed that is idolatry.
Stop lying to one another,
since you have taken off the old self with its practices
and have put on the new self,
which is being renewed, for knowledge,
in the image of its creator.
Here there is not Greek and Jew,
circumcision and uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, slave, free;
but Christ is all and in all.

Alleluia Mt 5:3

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Lk 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves
but are not rich in what matters to God.”