Sunday, July 31, 2016
From the Mass readings for the
18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year
“Vanity of vanities, all is
vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)
Pure and simple. All of the
things we are concerned about, all the things we are preoccupied with, all the
things we are hungry and greedy for, all the things we want or covet, all the
things that we possess that we used to think would make us happy (and by the way,
how has that turned out for you?) everything that is made of earth and
matter, most certainly everything that was made by man—even the great works of
art, I guess, although we know that there will be music in heaven, all of
this---or rather, should I say, NONE of it will really matter in the long run,
in the age to come.
And yet, of course, these things
do matter to us up to a certain point, because after all, we are human, we are
made of earth, and we are inhabitants of the earthly realm. They may not matter
to us once we make it to heaven, please God, but they do matter now. The
important question is a question of priorities---and here it is that we
often can go wrong.
Some people live with their
priorities way out of whack. Do you? Do I? At times, perhaps. I do know that if
there were a fire in the building, the one thing I would try to save above all
others is my laptop. I have been known to say, “But my whole life is in
my laptop!” ----but what does that statement really say? How would you evaluate
my priorities? But more importantly, how do you evaluate your own? Could
it possibly be that you—or I—give more weight and value and important to things
that really don’t matter much in the long run? I can’t help thinking of the
story where Jesus tells a man, “There is one thing more that you need in order
to be perfect: go sell all you have and give it to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven, and come follow me!” (Luke 18:22) And the man went away sad
because he was very rich.
But let’s not condemn or think
poorly of the man. What would we do in his situation? I know there was a time
in my life when I did give away everything I owned, including money (except for
my typewriter, some books and records and winter clothes), but my goodness, I
now have more than I had when I was practically penniless. God has blessed me
beyond measure, as the Lord promised He would. The bad news, however, is that
once again I am prone to have a problem with—there’s
that word again—PRIORITIES!
I’m just playing around today,
trying to get you to think a bit about some things in your life, just as I am
thinking about things in my own life. In conclusion, however, I want to call
your attention to the last statement in today’s Gospel, where Jesus talks about
being rich in what matters to God.
(Luke 12:21)
And what does that mean? Something
else for you to think about from time to time.
God bless you!
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