HOMILY FOR 18th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME--C

 THIS IS THE 18TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME AND OUR FIRST READING IS A LITTLE UNUSUAL IN THAT IT COMES FROM THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES.  THIS IS THE ONLY SUNDAY WE READ FROM THAT BOOK AT MASS AND WHAT WE READ IS DISTURBING.  EVERYTHING, QOHELETH SAYS, IS SHEER VANITY, SHEER FUTILITY.

  WHAT HE MEANS BY VANITY IS NOT PREENING YOURSELF IN FRONT OF A MIRROR OR THINKING THAT YOU ARE GOD’S GREATEST GIFT TO HUMANKIND. WHAT HE MEANS BY VANITY IS NOTHING HAS ANY REAL WORTH, NOTHING WILL MAKE US REALLY, REALLY HAPPY.

 QOHELETH MEANS PREACHER AND ECCLESIASTES MEANS CONGREGATION SO THIS PREACHER IS TELLING EVERYONE IN HIS CONGREGATION THAT EVERYTHING ON EARTH IS MEANINGLESS.  
SORT OF A DOWNER.  LIKE THE BOOK OF JOB WHERE JOB DID EVERYTHING RIGHT ONLY TO HAVE EVERYTHING GO WRONG.  MAYBE THAT’S WHY WE DON’T READ MUCH FROM EITHER ONE.

QOHELETH STARTS BY ASKING WHAT MAKES HUMANS REALLY HAPPY, ULTIMATELY HAPPY.  WELL, IT COULD BE RICHES BUT WHAT’S THE USE OF THEM HE SAYS.  NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU HAVE, YOU ALWAYS ARE WORRYING ABOUT PROTECTING WHAT YOU HAVE AND THEN GO ON TO WORRY ABOUT GETTING MORE.  ALSO, AS THE SAYING GOES, THERE ARE NO POCKETS IN A SHROUD.
HE TRIES FAME AND REPUTATION.  A FLASH IN THE PAN HE SAYS.  YOU WILL BE FORGOTTEN IN ABOUT THE SAME TIME AS THE AVERAGE PERSON WITHOUT FAME AND REPUTATION.

HARD WORK AND ACCOMPLISHMENT?  THAT’S NOT THE ROAD TO HAPPINESS SINCE THE BENEFITS WILL GO TO ANOTHER WHEN YOU ARE GONE.

MAYBE IT’S WISDOM THAT BRINGS HAPPINESS BUT NO HE SAYS.  THE WISE AND THE FOOLISH BOTH END UP IN THE SAME PLACE, THE GRAVE.  PLUS WITH WISDOM YOU REALIZE HOW FOOLISH EVERYTHING IS AND THAT JUST DEPRESSES YOU ALL THE MORE.

REALLY A DOWNER, ISN’T IT?  BUT THEN YOU REALIZE HIS WHOLE POINT IS THAT HUMAN LIFE IS PRETTY MEANINGLESS ONLY WHEN IT IS APART FROM GOD.  HUMANS IN THEMSELVES HAVE NO RESOURCE, NO TECHNIQUE, NO QUALITY THAT ENABLES US TO ACHIEVE BY OURSELVES AN ULTIMATE AND ENDURING HAPPINESS.  OUR LOT, AWAY FROM GOD, IS PRETTY SENSELESS BUT OUR LOT WITH GOD IS FULL OF MEANING AND HAPPINESS.

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT IDEA TO GRASP BECAUSE, UNTIL WE KNOW THAT WE CANNOT GIVE OURSELVES HAPPINESS, UNTIL WE KNOW THAT THE THINGS OF THE EARTH ARE ULTIMATELY JUST VANITIES DEVOID OF ANY REAL MEANING, WE CANNOT FIND OUR REAL MEANING IN GOD.  WE WILL BE TIED TO THE EARTH.  WE WILL SEARCH FOR MEANING IN PLACES WHERE IT CANNOT BE FOUND, SORT OF LIKE THE SONG WHERE THE SINGER IS SEARCHING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES.

IN TODAY’S GOSPEL JESUS, IN THE PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL, TELLS US OF SOMEONE WHO SEARCHED FOR MEANING IN THE WRONG PLACE.  WHAT AM I TO DO, THE RICH FOOL ASKS HIMSELF?  I HAVE MORE THAN MY BARNS AND GRANARIES CAN HOLD.

THIS RICH FOOL MAKES TWO MISTAKES.  FIRST HE NEVER SEES BEYOND HIMSELF.  THERE IS NO OTHER PARABLE SO FULL OF THE WORDS “I”, “ME”, “MY”, AND “MINE”.  A SCHOOL CHILD WAS ONCE ASKED TO IDENTIFY WHAT PARTS OF SPEECH THOSE WORDS WERE AND IN A FLASH OF INSIGHT CALLED THEM “AGGRESSIVE PRONOUNS” INSTEAD OF POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS.

THE RICH FOOL IS VERY LIKE THE YOUNG SPOILED BEAUTY, LET’S CALL HER EDITH, WHO LIVED IN A LITTLE WORLD WHOSE BOUNDARIES WERE EDITH TO THE NORTH, EDITH TO THE SOUTH, AND EDITH ON THE WEST AND EAST.  SHE SAW EVERYTHING IN RELATION TO HERSELF.  SO TOO THE RICH FOOL.
THE ONE THING THAT NEVER OCCURRED TO HIM WAS TO GIVE ANY OF IT AWAY TO THOSE IN NEED.  LATER THAT NIGHT HE FOUND OUT THAT EVEN HIS SHROUD DID NOT HAVE ANY POCKETS AND THAT HIS REAL HAPPINESS WOULD HAVE BEEN DOING GOD’S WILL.

JOHN WESLEY, THE FOUNDER OF THE METHODIST CHURCH, HAD A RULE TO SAVE ALL THAT HE COULD BUT ALSO TO GIVE AWAY ALL THAT HE COULD.  WHEN HE WAS AT OXFORD, HE HAD AN INCOME OF £30 A YEAR.  HE FOUND HE COULD LIVE ON £28 A YEAR SO HE GAVE AWAY THE OTHER £2.  EACH TIME HIS INCOME INCREASED, HE DID NOT INCREASE HIS LIVING EXPENSES, HE DID NOT INCREASE THE £28, BUT INCREASED THE £2 HE GAVE AWAY TO 4, AND 8 AND 100 AND SO ON.

THE SECOND MISTAKE THAT THE RICH FOOL MAKES WAS TO THINK THAT THE WORLD AND NOT GOD GIVES US MEANING.  THE PERSON WHO THINKS THERE IS ONLY THIS WORLD IS ONE DAY IN FOR THE GRIMMEST OF GRIM SHOCKS.

LATER ON IN THAT SAME CHAPTER OF LUKE, JESUS TELLS US WHAT DOES GIVE US MEANING, WHAT DOES MAKE LIFE WORTHWHILE.  SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THE CHRIST TELLS US, AND THE OTHER THINGS WILL TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES.  WORRYING ABOUT WEALTH, FAME, SUCCESS, WISDOM, ALL OF THOSE THINGS THAT QOHELETH TALKED ABOUT AND FOUND WORTHLESS, WORRY ABOUT THEM WILL NOT ADD ANYTHING TO OUR LIVES OTHER THAN MORE WORRY.  THE WAY TO ADD SOMETHING REAL TO OUR LIVES, THE WAY TO FIND THE ULTIMATE HAPPINESS IS TO FIND GOD AND GOD’S KINGDOM.