Deacon Tom Anthony

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 114

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.”

My Brothers and Sisters,

What are we working towards in our lives? We all have goals and plans that will take us into the future. There is arguably a certain place that we all want to be at some point in our lives. This place can be defined by financial security and in the acquiring of a certain amount of freedom from debt. Certain material objects might also be considered such as a house, a particular job, and other things that add material comfort to our lives. Yes, things of this world created by human hands can add to our lives but they can also lead to a feeling of emptiness and a lack of fulfillment which can then turn into despair. If we become too focused on the acquiring of material goods then there becomes a natural turning away from that which is not material, our spirituality, and an intensified concentration on those things which are pursued will take its place.

The United States of America in particular is awash in material wealth. This country alone consumes 25% of the world’s energy while only being home to 5% of the world’s population. It uses 30% of the world’s resources, far more than what is required to live. 5% of the world’s population owns 70% of the world’s total wealth while the remaining 95% own only 30%. The United States of America has the capability to feed the entire world through its renewable food resources yet 14% of the world is starving and 33% of all food produced is thrown away. This is directly a result of a focus on materialism and the quest for material gain. When the focus become things of the physical world then our spirituality and the importance of God suffers.

Gluttony, or Greed, is one of the Seven Deadly Sins as presented by the Catholic Church. Even though all sin is bad and represents a turning away from God the Seven Deadly Sins are listed because they are a gateway to a multitude of others sins and can easily lead to a pattern of behavior that breeds even more sin. With Greed comes an act of taking and indulging in more than one necessarily needs. It leads to hording and a distortion of our values and what we hold precious. When we act on Greed we become the most important person in our lives with an intent focus on pleasuring our physical desires. The more our desires are acted on then the more their appetites become insatiable, thus more time is spent pursuing them at the expense of everything else.

The Scripture Reading from Ecclesiastes today reminds us that whatever material wealth we gain is destined for someone else. Nothing from this earth is forever and will amount to nothing. Any enjoyment we receive from it only lasts a brief moment in comparison to our longevity or shortness of life. With that, we are reminded that if we choose to chase after these physical things much of our life just might be wasted on something that we ultimately will not even enjoy. Even if we do, it will only be for a moment then that moment is gone and we are then left empty. Even our memory of that moment will fade with time and will then be forgotten.

A better way is offered through Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul encourages us to seek those things which originate from above. In other words, he implores us to seek a relationship with Jesus Christ. Through this relationship a guarantee of endless joy and a spiritual experience that goes beyond anything that this earth can offer. It is through Jesus that we are healed and are ushered into a beautiful relationship with God. We are constantly called by God to enter into this relationship and it is up to us to clear away all of the materialistic clutter which has prevented us from responding to His call. We unknowingly block our ears or ignore Him when we choose to follow our physical desires instead of completely surrendering to Him. Jesus addressed this when He said,

“You cannot serve both God and Mammon.”

In the Gospel reading today he further warns,

“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions”

If we focus just on material possessions and our material appetites then everything else important will naturally become secondary to that which pleases us physically. This goes directly to what the Apostle Paul was speaking about in his letter to the Romans. He explained that the spirit is constantly battling with the flesh. Only one of these can dictate our lives. One is temporal while the other is eternal. If we choose the flesh then we will ultimately rot like flesh will eventually do. If we choose spirituality then we will be eternal with our God.

It is very difficult not to focus on material things. We have been trained to do this by society since birth. It is how society functions: thins are produced, things are sold, some people make a lot of money while we convince ourselves what we are getting makes us happy or benefits us in some way. A change of perception is needed and can only be achieved through the exercise of our faith and a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus is constantly inviting us into this relationship and when we commit ourselves to Him a better way will be revealed. This way minimizes the material and maximizes the joy found through acting out our spirituality. Jesus Christ wants the best for us. He wants us to be joyous and free from the chains of consumerism and the Greed that surrounds us. It is always the same: the pursuit of the material ends in nothingness because everything that is pursued through it has an expiration date. God’s love for us and our love for Him is eternal.

Deacon Tom