18th.
Sunday of Year (C)
(Ecclesiastes
1:2; 2:21-23; Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11; Luke 12:13-21)
Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;
for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.
Jesus’ words are in close accord with
the modern scientific attitude which requires us to know the nature, the type, and
the quality of whatever we might be using if we are to get the best working
results from it. Today we are
constantly bombarded by governmental warnings about the dangers of smoking and
‘binge’ drinking, and recommendations concerning healthy eating and physical exercise,
to mention only the least controversial items of advice for suitable personal
living. Jesus, therefore, in His advice
to us today, is indeed up to date in His approach but far, far, deeper in His
thought and understanding which are absolutely fundamental: think about life if you want to get the most
out of it; learn from the experience of mankind in general, don’t just let immediate
personal pleasure or advantage blind you; above all, seek out and learn from
the Giver of the gift that:
Life does not consist in
the abundance of possessions.
Notice, in passing, that Jesus, in replying
to the man who called out to Him from the crowd, does not try to explain, publicly,
what is a false appreciation of man’s life on earth and what is the real truth
about its purpose and possibilities.
Jesus is answering a man whose mind and heart are centred on money, and
the Old Testament (Proverbs 28:22) tells us clearly:
A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, and does not consider
that poverty will come upon him.
And so Jesus does not attempt to reveal
-- either by explanation or persuasion -- what is holy, to one with an evil
eye. He simply gives a warning:
Life does not consist in the abundance
of possessions.
That should have helped the man to stop,
think, and hopefully reconsider and revise his attitude; for, only after having
done that could he be in a position to appreciate the difference between
passing satisfaction and abiding fulfilment, and then to fruitfully proceed to inquire
about what is truly good and worth-while.
Here the words of St. Paul in our second reading are most pertinent:
Put on the new self, which is being renewed for knowledge in the image of its
Creator.
Only one renewed by faith in Christ and endowed with the guiding Spirit
of Christ is able to see and appreciate the ultimate beauty, truth, and love
behind our experience of life in a world afflicted and at times ravaged by the
effects of human sin. Until that change had taken place within him, however, the evil man will
continue to run after riches totally unaware of the fact that ultimate poverty
was hastening in his direction, eager to meet him.
However, Jesus did -- as the Gospel
account reports -- go on to explain further to His disciples what could not be
given to those with ears that would not hear and eyes that did not see; and Mother
Church does likewise for us today in so far as she puts today’s Gospel passage together
with readings from Ecclesiastes and St. Paul as we have heard.
What is life? What -- if we are humble, devout and attentive
enough -- can we learn about it that will enable us to use it rightly and wisely?
First of all, the passage quoted from
the book of Ecclesiastes makes a supremely important fact about life abundantly
clear:
Here is one who has laboured with wisdom and knowledge and skill; and yet,
to another who has not laboured over it, he must leave his property. This is
vanity and a great misfortune.
In other words, our hold on life is
uncertain; the number of our years is unknown; and we cannot take our
possessions with us when we leave, no matter what they may mean to us, nor how
much time, care, and effort we may have bestowed on them.
The second reading from St. Paul then
told us that, when our time on earth is ended, life does not come to an end,
for we have a heavenly destiny, a heavenly fulfilment, to attain or to lose:
Set your mind on things above … for your (real) life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with Him in
glory.
Do those words ‘set your mind on things
above’ mean that we should seek to build up a treasure in heaven instead of one
on earth? After all didn’t Jesus say:
Provide yourselves a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where
no thief approaches nor moth destroys.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also? (Luke 12:33-34)
Jesus did indeed mean and say precisely that;
and thereby hangs a tale, so to speak, a tale of confrontation and conflict
which has helped to divide, but also, let us pray, might ultimately serve to guide
and prosper, Western Christendom.
In order to understand those words of
Jesus we have to remember that He had said immediately before:
Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to
give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)
Therefore, our good works of whatever
sort, will be ‘a treasure’ for us in heaven, and also a gift from God: a
treasure, indeed, but not exclusively ours; for our glory, yes, but not a
treasure enabling us to buy our way into heaven, to save ourselves. On the contrary, our heavenly treasure will
be found to bear an eternal witness to the Father’s goodness to us, in Jesus,
by the Spirit, throughout our life:
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and
greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. (John 14:12)
The old Protestant battle-cry of ‘sola
fides’, trusting in the Scriptures of Christ that alone can obtain for us the
grace of justification, was based on, or rather provoked by, a misunderstanding
of the Catholic attitude, a misunderstanding induced, we must admit, by massive
personal and institutional scandals, together with a scholarly over-emphasis on
the powers of reason at the expense of biblical sensitivity and personal responsiveness.
Today we are very familiar with debate
about the need for people to have pensions to help their needs in old age; and
many, indeed probably most people, regard retirement as a time to relax and
enjoy the fruits which the nest-egg they have built up over the years will
enable them to experience. They have
provided for themselves, all is well!
That is how ‘good works’ appeared to Luther in the Church of his times:
‘good works’ acquired by gifts of money, works of penance, pilgrimages etc.
apparently could guarantee salvation for people who were otherwise independent
of Christ, certainly not living for Him, loving Him, and hoping totally on His
Spirit. This false attitude is not
absent even today. Of course, there is
less emphasis on the buying and selling of indulgences, but there can still be excessive
and unwarranted trust in occasional contributions or passing devotions in no
way backed up by faithful Church observance and Catholic obedience. There are far too many Catholics, even today,
who follow teachings, practice spiritualities and devotions of various sorts,
without giving serious attention to building up a personal relationship with
Jesus to be found in the Scriptures and encountered in the Sacraments and
teaching of the Church. Indeed, the greatest sacrament of all, the
Eucharist itself, is far too frequently ‘used’ in an impersonal manner: with no
return of personal commitment to Him Who sacrificed Himself for us, and no deep
response of personal love to Him Who loved us to the end.
And yet, there is only one infallible
sign and expression of Catholic holiness: it is not works, it is not faith, it
is love:
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not
love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and
understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so
that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the
poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me
nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
And what love is being spoken of by the
Apostle there? Love of God: seen darkly
indeed here on earth, but, nevertheless, experienced most surely in Jesus:
When that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will
be done away. Now we see in a mirror,
dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as
I also am known. And now abide faith,
hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:10-14:1)
Why is such love of God the
greatest? Not simply because it is love
for God, Whom we shall see clearly, face to face; Whom we shall then know as He
now knows us; not even simply because it was said by Jesus to be the fulfilment
of the first and greatest commandment:
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30)
The Love of God of which we speak is the
greatest, above and beyond all other virtues and excellences, because it is
divine charity, that is, a sharing
in Jesus’ own love for the Father,
and it is that – essentially, though as yet initially -- even here on
earth. It is not a human emotional
love, neither is it an intellectual attraction or fascination, it is a sharing
in the Holy Spirit of Jesus:
Because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy
Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:5)
And, People of God, as we look back on
the life and death of Jesus our Lord we recognise that that Spirit of love
which drove Jesus to such lengths for His Father and for us cannot remain
inactive in us: if the love of God is truly in us, then He -- the Spirit of
Love and Truth -- will be at work in us and through us in some way or other. And our good works, thus accomplished in
Jesus and by His Spirit, will indeed be a treasure for us in heaven; and yet, they
will in no way be a cause for personal pride, for they will humble us every bit
as much as they delight us: being eternal reminders of God’s wondrous mercy and
goodness to us in Jesus throughout our life on earth; and, by the Spirit, an eternal
inspiration to gratitude and provocation to praise before the Father Who worked
such things through His Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, dwelling in us.
