2019년 8월 4일 연중 제18주일
제1독서
코헬렛 1,2; 2,21-23
2 허무로다, 허무! 코헬렛이 말한다. 허무로다, 허무! 모든 것이 허무로다!
2,21 지혜와 지식과 재주를 가지고 애쓰고서는, 애쓰지 않은 다른 사람에게 제 몫을 넘겨주는 사람이 있는데, 이 또한 허무요, 커다란 불행이다.
22 그렇다, 태양 아래에서 애쓰는 그 모든 노고와 노심으로 인간에게 남는 것이 무엇인가? 23 그의 나날은 근심이요, 그의 일은 걱정이며, 밤에도 그의 마음은 쉴 줄을 모르니, 이 또한 허무이다.
제1독서
콜로새서 3,1-5.9-11
형 제 여러분, 1 여러분은 그리스도와 함께 다시 살아났으니, 저 위에 있는 것을 추구하십시오. 거기에는 그리스도께서 하느님의 오른쪽에 앉아 계십니다. 2 위에 있는 것을 생각하고, 땅에 있는 것은 생각하지 마십시오. 3 여러분은 이미 죽었고, 여러분의 생명은 그리스도와 함께 하느님 안에 숨겨져 있기 때문입니다. 4 여러분의 생명이신 그리스도께서 나타나실 때, 여러분도 그분과 함께 영광 속에 나타날 것입니다.
5 그러므로 여러분 안에 있는 현세적인 것들, 곧 불륜, 더러움, 욕정, 나쁜 욕망, 탐욕을 죽이십시오. 탐욕은 우상 숭배입니다. 9 서로 거짓말을 하지 마십시오.
여 러분은 옛 인간을 그 행실과 함께 벗어 버리고, 10 새 인간을 입은 사람입니다. 새 인간은 자기를 창조하신 분의 모상에 따라 끊임없이 새로워지면서 참지식에 이르게 됩니다. 11 여기에는 그리스인도, 유다인도, 할례 받은 이도, 할례 받지 않은 이도, 야만인도, 스키티아인도, 종도, 자유인도 없습니다. 그리스도만이 모든 것이며, 모든 것 안에 계십니다.
복음
루카. 12,13-21
그 때에 13 군중 가운데에서 어떤 사람이 예수님께, “스승님, 제 형더러 저에게 유산을 나누어 주라고 일러 주십시오.” 하고 말하였다. 14 그러자 예수님께서 그에게 말씀하셨다. “사람아, 누가 나를 너희의 재판관이나 중재인으로 세웠단 말이냐?” 15 그리고 사람들에게 이르셨다. “너희는 주의하여라. 모든 탐욕을 경계하여라. 아무리 부유하더라도, 사람의 생명은 그의 재산에 달려 있지 않다.” 16 예수님께서 그들에게 비유를 들어 말씀하셨다.
“어 떤 부유한 사람이 땅에서 많은 소출을 거두었다. 17 그래서 그는 속으로, ‘내가 수확한 것을 모아 둘 데가 없으니 어떻게 하나?’ 하고 생각하였다. 18 그러다가 말하였다. ‘이렇게 해야지. 곳간들을 헐어 내고 더 큰 것들을 지어, 거기에다 내 모든 곡식과 재물을 모아 두어야겠다. 19 그리고 나 자신에게 말해야지. ′자, 네가 여러 해 동안 쓸 많은 재산을 쌓아 두었으니, 쉬면서 먹고 마시며 즐겨라.′’
20 그러나 하느님께서 그에게 말씀하셨다. ‘어리석은 자야, 오늘 밤에 네 목숨을 되찾아 갈 것이다. 그러면 네가 마련해 둔 것은 누구 차지가 되겠느냐?’
21 자신을 위해서는 재화를 모으면서, 하느님 앞에서는 부유하지 못한 사람이 바로 이러하다.”
August 4, 2019
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
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.
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.
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.
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.”
http://evangeli.net/gospel/tomorrow
«Even though you have many possessions, it is not that which gives you life»
Fr, Jordi PASCUAL i Bancells
(Salt, Girona, Spain)
Today, Jesus places us facing what is fundamental in our Christian life, in our relationship with God: to get rich before him. That is, to fill our own hands and heart with all kinds of supernatural and spiritual goods of grace, and not of material possessions.
This is why, in the light of today's Gospel we can wonder: what do we fill our heart with? The man of the parable saw it quite clearly: «Rest, eat, drink and enjoy yourself» (Lk 12:19). But this is absolutely not what God expects from his good sons. The Lord do not want our happiness to rely upon legacies, banquets, last model cars, exotic holidays, estates, our armchair, beers or money. All these things may be good, but they cannot satisfy per se our yearning for the plenitude of our souls, and, consequently, we should employ them only as the means they simply are.
This is the experience of St. Ignatius Loyola's, whose celebration was yesterday. This is how he admitted it in his own auto-biography: «When he thought of worldly things, he delighted in them, but when he gave them up, dead bored, he felt sad and empty; when he thought, instead, of the penances he observed in the just men, he felt solace and comfort, not only in that very moment, but even afterwards, he felt contented and cheerful». And this can also be our own experience.
Because material and earthly things become outdated and expire; but, spiritual things are eternal, they last forever and are the only ones that can fill our heart and give a meaning to our human and Christian life.
Jesus said it very clear: «You fool!» (Lk 12:20), this is how He qualifies those who only have material, earthly and selfish aims. Let us beg we may always present ourselves before God, at any time, with our hands and heart full of our efforts to seek our Lord and to look for what it pleases to him, for this is the only thing that will take us to Heaven.
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
In today’s gospel reading the Lord introduces the parable of the rich farmer with a remark that is particularly appropriate for our society: ...though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions. In our society having is equated with being and having more is interpreted as being more. The reverse side of this coin is that having less is interpreted as being less and the glaring inequality in having is echoed in the glaring inequality in respect offered to those who have less.
The parable itself offers two points worthy of consideration. The first point is the rich man’s self-centeredness. The wealth resulting from his abundant harvest will be enjoyed by him alone. An abundant harvest would most likely require a larger work force, but the idea of sharing with the laborers the benefits of the bumper crop never crossed the rich man’s mind. We may not be rich farmers ourselves, but we have all been blessed with a variety of gifts, an abundant crop. We need to be willing to share with others the benefits of that crop.
The other point in the parable is the abundance itself. The Lord refers to us as God’s field. The Church is God’s field and it has been yielding harvests in the course of the years. At the present moment we are blessed with a well prepared laity that is already contributing significantly to the Church’s harvest. This abundance is itself a rich crop that in terms of preparedness was not equally available to the Church in the not too distant past. But, even as it is a great gift, such abundance is not given for the enjoyment of the Church alone. It needs to have a repercussion beyond the Church’s boundaries and, thank God, it is already having such repercussion.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
WHAT MATTERS ABOUT FINANCIAL MATTERS | ||
| "That is the way it works with the man who grows rich for himself instead of growing rich in the sight of God." �Luke 12:21 | ||
The Lord wants His children to be rich, not for themselves, but rich in what matters to Him. "You are well acquainted with the favor shown you by our Lord Jesus Christ: how for your sake He made Himself poor though He was rich, so that you might become rich by His poverty" (2 Cor 8:9). When we were baptized into Christ, we were baptized into His riches. Accordingly, the eyes of our hearts must be enlightened to realize "the wealth of His glorious heritage to be distributed among the members of the church" (Eph 1:18). To be rich in what matters to God, we must:
If we are not rich in what matters to God, our lives are vain (Eccl 1:2) and foolish (Lk 12:20). If we are rich in God, however, we are ready to die now (see Lk 12:20), for we have laid up treasure in heaven (see Mt 6:19-28). "How deep are the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!" (Rm 11:33) Let us live in and proclaim "the unfathomable riches of Christ" (Eph 3:8). | ||
| Prayer: Father, send the Holy Spirit to show me the relationship between material riches and godly riches. | ||
| Promise: "When Christ our Life appears, then you shall appear with Him in glory." —Col 3:4 | ||
| Praise: Praise You, Jesus, provider of our needs! |
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
Be rich towards God
Have you ever tried to settle a money dispute or an inheritance issue? Inheritance disputes are rarely ever easy to resolve, especially when the relatives or close associates of the deceased benefactor cannot agree on who should get what and who should get the most. Why did Jesus refuse to settle an inheritance dispute between two brothers? He saw that the heart of the issue was not justice or fairness but rather greed and possessiveness.
Loving possessions rather than loving my neighbor
The ten commandments were summarized into two prohibitions - do not worship false idols and do not covet what belongs to another. It's the flip side of the two great commandments - love God and love your neighbor. Jesus warned the man who wanted half of his brother's inheritance to "beware of all covetousness." To covet is to wish to get wrongfully what another possesses or to begrudge what God has given to another. Jesus restates the commandment "do not covet", but he also states that a person's life does not consist in the abundance of his or her possessions.
August of Hippo (354-430 AD) comments on Jesus' words to the brother who wanted more:
The fool who was possessed by his riches
Jesus reinforces his point with a parable about a foolish rich man (Luke 12:16-21). Why does Jesus call this wealthy landowner a fool? Jesus does not fault the rich man for his industriousness and skill in acquiring wealth, but rather for his egoism and selfishness - it's mine, all mine, and no one else's. This parable is similar to the parable of the rich man who refused to give any help to the beggar Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). The rich fool had lost the capacity to be concerned for others. His life was consumed with his possessions and his only interests were in himself. His death was the final loss of his soul! What is Jesus' lesson on using material possessions? It is in giving that we receive. Those who are rich towards God receive ample reward - not only in this life - but in eternity as well.
Where is your treasure?
In this little parable Jesus probes our heart - where is your treasure? Treasure has a special connection to the heart, the place of desire and longing, the place of will and focus. The thing we most set our heart on is our highest treasure. What do you treasure above all else?
"Lord Jesus, free my heart from all possessiveness and from coveting what belongs to another. May I desire you alone as the one true treasure worth possessing above all else. Help me to make good use of the material blessings you give me that I may use them generously for your glory and for the good of others."
Psalm 90:3-6,12-14,17
3 You turn man back to the dust, and say, "Turn back, O children of men!"
4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.
5 You sweep men away; they are like a dream, like grass which is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.
12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us, yes, the work of our hands establish it.
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Surrounded by wealth, blind to charity, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)
"'What does the rich man do, surrounded by a great supply of many blessings beyond all numbering? In distress and anxiety, he speaks the words of poverty. He says, 'What should I do?' ... He does not look to the future. He does not raise his eyes to God. He does not count it worth his while to gain for the mind those treasures that are above in heaven. He does not cherish love for the poor or desire the esteem it gains. He does not sympathize with suffering. It gives him no pain nor awakens his pity. Still more irrational, he settles for himself the length of his life, as if he would also reap this from the ground. He says, 'I will say to myself, "Self, you have goods laid up for many years. Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself." 'O rich man,' one may say, "You have storehouses for your fruits, but where will you receive your many years? By the decree of God, your life is shortened." 'God,' it tells us, 'said to him, "You fool, this night they will require of you your soul. Whose will these things be that you have prepared?" (excerpt from COMMENTARY on LUKE, HOMILY 89)
http://www.homilies.net/
18 Ordinary Time
Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23; Psalm 95: 1-2,6-9; Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11; St. Luke 12: 13-21
one of the multitude said to him, 'Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.' But he said to him, 'Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?' " (Lk 12: 13-14.) Why does the Lord, in effect, refuse this man's request? Was the request wrong? Perhaps not. The Lord's purpose is take the moment to teach about the higher good of the kingdom which might be lost to those who sin by coveting the goods of this world. By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness, and death, (Cf. Jn 6:5-15; Lk 19:8; Mt 11:5.)
Jesus performed Messianic signs. Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils here below, (Cf. Lk 12:13-14; Jn 18:36.) but to free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in their vocation as God's sons and causes all forms of human bondage. (Cf. Jn 8:34-36.) (CCC 549) The primary mission of Christ is to free mankind from the evil of sin. Then he said to the crows, Avoid greed in all its forms. A man may be wealthy, but his possessions do not guarantee him life. (Lk 12) The tenth commandment forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and their attendant power. (CCC 2552) Greed, or avarice, is one of the capital sins. Vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose, or also be linked to the capital sins which Christian experience has distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They are called "capital" because they engender other sins, other vices. They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia. (CCC 1866)
The Lord Jesus offers us the gift of grace, the power in Him by which we can keep the law and walk in the way of salvation. The economy of law and grace turns men's hearts away from avarice and envy. It initiates them into desire for the Sovereign Good; it instructs them in the desires of the Holy Spirit who satisfies man's heart. The God of the promises always warned man against seduction by what from the beginning has seemed "good for food . . . a delight to the eyes . . . to be desired to make one wise." (CCC 2541) Grace engages our human freedom to choose and do the good we ought to do and reject the evil, such as greed, that we ought not do. Freedom and grace. The grace of Christ is not in the slightest way a rival of our freedom when this freedom accords with the sense of the true and the good that God has put in the human heart. on the contrary, as Christian experience attests especially in prayer, the more docile we are to the promptings of grace, the more we grow in inner freedom and confidence during trials, such as those we face in the pressures and constraints of the outer world. By the working of grace the Holy Spirit educates us in spiritual freedom in order to make us free collaborators in his work in the Church and in the world: Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness take away from us all that is harmful, so that, made ready both in mind and body, we may freely accomplish your will. (Roman Missal, 32d Sun, Opening Prayer.) ( CCC 1742)
Almighty God forbids vices, or sins, that He might grant us virtues in their place. The Holy Spirit, at work in us through word and Sacrament, is the give of all good gifts or graces. Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning "favor," "gratuitous gift," "benefit." Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church. (CCC 2003) See also nos. 547, 548, 550 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
(Publish with permission.)
Frjoeshomilies.net
18 Ordinary Time
Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Successful Christian
Last week I celebrated by 72nd birthday. I’ve gotten to the age that when birthdays come around, I start looking back on life as well as forward. Perhaps some of you may do this too. The question that we might ask ourselves is this: Has my life been a success? Actually, this question cannot be answered unless we can answer a deeper question: What is success? What is a successful life, a successful career, a successful relationship?
Is a person’s life successful if he or she is making a good salary? There’s a story about a grandmother who pulled out pictures of her three grandchildren, all under two, and showed them to a friend saying, “These are my grandchildren. That one’s the rich doctor, that one’s the rich lawyer and that one’s the chairman of the board of a large corporation.”
Is success predicated on salary? Certainly, that is the way that most people calculate success. But are they correct?
How about marriage? What makes a marriage successful? Is a marriage successful because a woman and a man have been together for twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty years and have avoided both divorce and homicide? Marriage anniversaries are important, but do they point to the success of a marriage or only to its longevity?
The readings for this Sunday force us to take a closer look at the whole concept of success. In the Gospel reading, the man is convinced that he is a success because he is a rich farmer. What should he do now that he has succeeded in harvesting more grain than he has storage room? Build a bigger barn, of course. The only thing is, the basis of his success is his grain. When he suddenly dies, his success remains here, and he goes on to God empty handed.
The whole mind set that success is predicated on what we own is based on a fallacy that was very clear to the author of the first reading. He is sometimes called Qoheleth, or the Preacher. This book from the Hebrew Scriptures is the very insightful and difficult book called Ecclesiastes. “Vanity of vanities,” says Qoheleth, “All is vanity.” Qoheleth’s point is that the only real values are the spiritual values. The early Christians loved this book of the Hebrew Scriptures because it helped them remain focused on the reason for their existence.
There is a fantastic book of meditations on St. Francis of Assisi written by James Cowan, a lay novelist, who spent some time in Assisi trying to understand Francis. You are all well aware that Francis gave up all his worldly possessions as a radical prophetic action. Cowan writes that Francis recognized that wealth, family, social position and profession confined him in a web of relationships that made it impossible to define himself as a full human being in the image of Christ. Francis lived at the time of the emergence of the middle/merchant class. Before this a person was either a peasant or a noble. The merchant class was so taken up with making money and having the finest things of life that, as Qoheleth predicted, their days were full of labors and their nights were restless. Francis’ prophetic action of stripping off his rich clothes in the square in Assisi was a sign that the inner person had to be exposed rather than cloaked in silk and velvet. Francis’ action was prophetic, a radical action to help us recognize the entanglements of what the world calls success.
A doctor is successful not if he or she has a prosperous practice but if he or she becomes the healing hands of Christ for the sick. A lawyer is successful not if he or she is part of a profitable firm, but if he or she uses learning, knowledge and talent to protect people and the community, to do good for people and the community, to be just.
Many times an incorrect view of success is based on honors and titles. Is a priest a success if he becomes a Monsignor or a Bishop? Monsignor Guido Sarducci from the old Saturday Night Live boasted that it was really important for him to become a Monsignor because he could get a better cut of veal in Rome. (I haven"t tried that yet. I hope he's right.) No, success is not measured by titles. A priest is on the road to success if he can draw closer to God each day of his life while he also draws those he serves to join him on the journey to God.
How can we determine if a marriage is successful? Certainly, longevity does not determine the success of a marriage. A marriage is successful if the man or woman is a better person, a more loving person, because of the marriage.
How about parenting? What are the signs that people are good parents? Success in parenting is certainly not based on what your kids have, but who your kids are. For example, many of our parents have begun shopping for school clothes. Perhaps, some are shopping at Ross, Walmart or Target. Perhaps some are shopping at the most exclusive stores in Tampa Bay. The cost of the clothes that they put on their children has nothing to do with the success of their parenting. The success of their parenting is evidenced in the decisions their children make throughout their lives.
The general concept of success is a fallacy. Success is not predicated on what we have, what honors we receive, what jobs we hold, etc. Success is predicated on how each of us has developed as a person.
Let me take this one step, one infinite step, farther. Success is predicated on our ability to assume the person of Jesus Christ. St. Paul says in the second reading that our lives are hidden with Christ in God in such a way that when Christ appears we appear. The personality of a Christian is so entwined with the person of Jesus Christ that Christ and the Christian, and Christ in the Christian, must be one. That is success.
Therefore, success, true success, is never that which we have obtained. This is a completely different way of considering success. Success is not a present reality, it is a goal, the goal of Christian life. This goal will be reached when every aspect of our lives reflects the Person of Jesus Christ.
That is success.
All else is vanity.
Stmaryvalleybloom.org
* Available in Spanish - see Spanish Homilies
18 Ordinary Time
anity of Life and Elusiveness of Truth (August 4, 2019)
Bottom line: Like a shimmering bubble our lives pass quickly and are soon forgotten. Jesus and the Church remain.
In our first reading Qoheleth says, "Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!" The Hebrew word for vanity has the sense of "bubbles". When we were children most of us had those little bubble blowers. Now, you can see guys in parks with much bigger ones. The bubble forms and refracts a rainbow of colors, then bursts. Such is our existence. Vanity of vanities. All things are vanity.
Jesus applies this viewpoint when someone asks him to settle an inheritance. Jesus tells about a man who has a bountiful harvest - a bumper crop. And what does the lucky man do? Unlike Joseph in Egypt he doesn't think about how his good fortune can help others. Instead he falls into greed which is a form of pride. He says "my harvest", "my barns", "my grain". He starts imagining paradise on earth: "rest, eat, drink and be merry".
He doesn't realize his life hangs on a thread: maybe a clot moving to his heart or in his brain a vessel ready to break. He may own a lot of grain but he doesn't own his life. That night God demands his life like a creditor calling in a debt. A rich man can buy a lot of things but no one can purchase his own life. Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!
St Paul also picks up the theme of this life's vanity. "Seek what is above," says Paul, "(not) what is on earth." Material things are good and necessary. They can, however, become idols - substitutes for God.
We all want some security yet only in God do we have lasting security. In this life we strive for security, justice and truth but they elude us.
Regarding the elusiveness of truth, Bishop Barron gives an example in Letter to a Suffering Church. Writing about the cases of abuse that the Pennsylvania Grand Jury describes in graphic detail, Bishop Barron observes this: "even churchgoing Catholics tended to believe that the terrible instances mentioned in that study were recent cases". Not so. As Bishop Barron and others point out, "of the 400 or so crimes reported, precisely 2 occurred after 2002".
Here in Seattle we can say something similar. You have to go back to 1988 to identify a criminal case. In the eighties Archbishop Hunthausen began a series of reforms. He did it without fanfare but effectively. Succeeding archbishops continued and strengthened those reforms.
Sometimes I feel like a guy who belongs to a family that once had a good reputation. People would say, "Oh, he's a Bloom. You can trust him". Some family members abuse the trust and instead of correcting them or calling the police, the elder members try to cover up. Word gets out and the Bloom elders get sued. Eventually they set some standards and enforce them. Quite understandably, few people applaud the Blooms' efforts to reform. Lawyers keep finding old cases. Who can blame them? But it does seem unfair the newspapers report those decades-old cases as if they happened yesterday. Some of the Bloom children say, "I'm tired of people making fun of us. I'm leaving". I say, "No, we have a good heritage. For sure, some Blooms messed up. But we are fighters. We are a family."
I hope you will stick with our family - not the Blooms, although we could use some new members, but the Church family. The question before us is how we move forward. Bishop Barron devotes his final chapter to that question. Prayer of course is most basic, but that involves taking a long view. Our own lives are brief - like a bubble forming, shimmering, then dissolving. Here below we have no abiding security, justice and truth. That will happen only when Jesus comes to judge the living and the dead. Today I ask you to renew your commitment to Jesus and his Bride - the Church.
Next week we have a change of pace. I've invited Deacon Pierce Murphy from St. Michael, Snohomish. He is Executive Director of Stewardship and Development for the Archdiocese. He has quite a bio. I put it in the bulletin. Deacon Pierce has an important message for us.
Today take this home: Like a shimmering bubble our lives pass quickly and are soon forgotten. Jesus and the Church remain. Seek the things that are above. only there will we find lasting security, genuine justice and unfiltered truth. "If you were raised with Christ seek what is above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God." Amen.
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18 Ordinary Time
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The fellow in the Gospel today who asks Jesus to arbitrate in his claim for his brother to give him his share of the inheritance sounds a bit like the Prodigal Son in the parable we know so well. Both the man in today's Gospel and the Prodigal Son seem to want to exercise their independence and to go their own way apart from their families
Probably in this case the two sons had inherited their father's farm and instead of dividing it were working it together, at least until one was dissatisfied with his lot and wanted out so he could do his own thing. He probably thought that if his brother bought him out he could invest his money better elsewhere.
Jesus does not pronounce on the matter but instead goes to the root of this man's motivation which is greed or avarice. Jesus points out that wealth does not bring security. At the heart of Jesus' teaching has always been the idea that our true fulfillment can only be found in heaven, and that we must realise that this world is transitory and that while we are in it we should be doing all we can to secure our place in eternity.
Jesus underlines the point by telling the people a parable about a rich man who build huge barns to store all his wealth and then decided to take things easy and have a good time thinking to himself that he had made it in life, not knowing that his soul would be demanded by God that very night.
Again and again in the Gospels we see that it is attitude that Jesus is most concerned with. If the man in the parable had been thanking God for his wealth and had taken some steps to share his good fortune with those in need then it would have been a very different story. Instead this man focusses his energy on acquiring wealth and storing it up for himself in order that he will have security for the future so that he can then live a life of leisure. He gives no thought to God or to his less fortunate neighbour.
However, the purpose of our lives is to become rich in God's sight. It is not to acquire wealth so that we can indulge ourselves and become independent of everyone else. And God's values are completely different to the values of this world. He desires things like justice, peace, charity, love, patience, sharing, faith, hope and so on. These are quite contrary to the things that the world teaches are important such as independence, wealth, luxury, leisure, power, etc.
The Christian is someone who has made adjustments in his life. The Christian has realised that the values of this world are transitory and knows that they cannot bring true fulfillment. He places his trust in the things of God and understands well that true fulfillment consists in embracing the heavenly virtues such as truth, humility, honesty, patience, kindness and so on. The true Christian knows that it is only by cultivating these virtues that we will reach heaven.
Coming to this conclusion we are drawn back to the First Reading this Sunday from the Book of Ecclesiastes in which the Prophet declares that all is vanity. From the dictionary we define vanity as an excessive belief in one's own beauty or personal ability; but it also means whatever is vain, empty, or valueless and it is this that the Prophet intends it to mean in the reading for today.
We are being told that we should not place value in anything material since ultimately all material things will pass away and therefore cannot bring us lasting security or peace. It is only the spiritual things which are eternal and therefore it is these in which we should place our trust.
Transitory material things can never be trusted to last. only those things which find their origin in heaven can ever be truly lasting and so it is in these that we should place our trust.
Of course, there is a tremendous silver lining here because by adopting the virtues as our rule of life we become much better and more attractive people. We become people whom others look up to and admire. Other people feel they can trust us and find us friendly and open towards them.
Whatever the side benefits, the main point is that our goal should be acquiring the virtues and so aiming to become the kind of person that God wants us to be. By making ourselves acceptable in the sight of the Lord we will find that in due time the gates of heaven will swing open for us and we will find ourselves welcome citizens in the Kingdom of God.
Of course, we might feel that leaving material things behind will leave us vulnerable. Having a few pounds in the bank put aside for a rainy day makes us feel secure. Owning our own house would in a similar way make us feel safe. We might hesitate to live without these props because we feel we could risk disaster; we would feel that we were living life without being insured.
This is where the doctrine of Divine Providence comes in. The refrain of the saints was always this: God will provide. The bottom line of our faith should be complete trust in a God who will not let his little ones falter. If we take risks for our faith God will not pour money in our laps but he will ensure that we are safe. This is what we mean by Divine Providence, that God will give us our daily bread, that he will in fact provide for our needs.
The great saints understood this and made tremendous sacrifices knowing that God would keep them from harm. We are not all saints and we feel the weight of our responsibilities especially if we have children or other dependents to look after. But we should remember that our greatest gift to them should not simply be material security but rather the correct attitude to adopt in life.
Given the choice of bequeathing our children wealth and security or giving them the gift of faith, I know what I would choose and it would be faith. After all, wealth can distort our character and is easily squandered but the gift of faith lasts forever, it is the only thing that we take with us from this work into the Kingdom of God. Give them this gift for it is the only thing really worth having.
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