- Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 31 2022
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
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
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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.”
Money! You can't do without it but you can't live with it because it will corrupt your soul. There's no doubt the wealthy get a bad press throughout the bible. Is this because being wealthy tends to make you selfish, as when you don't share what you have with those in real need?
As always it's not your bank balance in itself that's a problem but the attitude it may engender in you. Common sense says you've got to protect what you have, and if you borrow to buy a farm or a factory you've got to make your enterprise grow. If there's no growth the enterprise will wither and die. So paradoxically, the more wealthy you are the less you can afford to give away. As prudence dictates it may be but a small portion of your profits.
If you're poor, on the other hand, you'll know what it is to be dependent, as we all are but which the wealthy deny in their self-satisfaction. In today's parable the rich man thought his abundant harvest was of his own doing, or perhaps his reward for taking risks. He would scorn the idea it is all gift. He had taken up the challenge "to have a go, to get out there and make himself rich! Anyone can do it with God onside. If you haven't got enough to live on it's your own fault." He deserved the reward.
To be dependent . To acknowledge the love that you depend on minute by minute. And to be grateful. These are the foundation of mental health and virtue. If these get corrupted or are twisted out of shape from early childhood you'll be among the poorest of the poor. But overall the 'have-nots' in any society are more likely to have integrity than the wealthy. These can manipulate others to their own benefit while the poor know what it is to be dependent and how to be grateful.
So in fact it's not whether you have a grand house or you're living rough that counts, it's the attitude you have in heart and head. I believe that Jeshua was more concerned about healthy attitudes than about the need to always improve the shape of society. Even in a 'perfect world' (the kingdom of God) there must be some who have more and some less of the goods of the earth. It is the case throughout the natural world.
It is the work of love to provide for the poor and, as required, to give them the wherewithall to stand tall in their dignity, without patronising them. If this attidude took root and grew to be the strongest tree in the forest it would signal a revolution in society. But it can only happen from within. The right attitude in one induces in another the desire to follow suit, until it becomes the fashion. So it is the responsibility of every individual to be making change. We do it just by giving something of ourselves, giving respect and love.
At every moment we influence our neighbour just by being how we are, for good or ill. Let us walk in the steps of Jeshua, putting our trust and faith in the Father of all love, with the hope that the divine purpose will in time be fulfilled, and utterly emptying ourselves in love, especially for anyone who is destitute, "for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."