18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C
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? These words we heard in today’s First reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23, reminds us of the foolery of materialism, fame, wealth and fortune. We live in a world where the main focus of life is centered on what we have or own, rather than on God who blesses us with all we have or own today. We work tirelessly to have earthly possessions but we find it very difficult to work on our spiritual lives to attain the kingdom of heaven. We worry so much about the here and now and totally forget that there exists an afterlife. We give our all to achieve our earthly goals but are lazy working on our relationship with God.
What do you live for in this world today? What is of utmost importance to you today? What is the most important goal for you in life? Saint Paul in our second reading today from his Letter to the Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 exhorts us to seek what is above, where Christ is and not of what is on earth, because we have been raised with Christ. He urges us to put to death, the parts of us that are earthly since we 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.
Jesus then emphasizes to us in today’s gospel reading from the gospel of Saint Luke 12:13-21 the need to "take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions."
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, material things we acquire and store will never lead us to God or help us attain the kingdom of heaven, so let us concentrate on deepening our relationship with God and loving our neighbors so as to attain the kingdom of heaven.
