Homily for the week of August 1, 2010

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2010

Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23

Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17

Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11

Luke 12:13-21

Nowhere in our Bible is having riches called sinful. Rather it is what one does with money that determines virtue or vice. No passage is concerned with whether possessing wealth is good or evil. Though called a fool, the rich man in the Gospel is called neither good nor evil simply because he had much grain and other goods.

In the Gospel story, however, the rich man with the bountiful harvest is shown to be isolated, oblivious of both God and his fellow human beings. He is self-centered. Rather than consult those whose lives are intertwined with his, he asks himself, “What shall I do..... I do not have space.... I shall tear down.... I shall store.... I shall say to myself....” The focus of his reflection is “my harvest...my barns...my grain...myself.”

The rich man’s self-centered plan for stockpiling and spending for his own enjoyment is interrupted by a startling apparition by God. “You fool!” comes the accusation, with the notice that this very night his life will be demanded. The critical question is: “All the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?”

We must remember that our passages were written in what were, for the most part, non-monetary societies. While coinage was certainly used by the time of Jesus, wealth was not thought of in terms of money. Wealth was thought of in terms of two things: how many things did you possess (so that you could barter), or how much social standing did you possess? So, what the Scriptures ask us is our attitude toward possessions. Another way to ask the question of the Scriptures today is, “What is the purpose of our possessions?”

The Book of Ecclesiastes, written late in Old Testament history, reveals a development in understanding of divine retribution. Before, justice was thought of in terms of earthly rewards and punishments, but Ecclesiastes starts to look toward the future with God as the time when justice will be fulfilled, a theme Jesus rounded out.

Jesus is critical of the rich fool’s attitudes toward his possessions. God gave him all that he had, not that he might own them, but that he might be generous with his possessions. His wealth was his possession of vast amounts of grain — grain that would rot and spoil before he could ever use it. He thought only in terms of what his possessions could do for him. This is what God thinks of as being “rich.”

How do we know when we are truly wealthy? When we are free enough to be generous, when the happiness of others is more important than our wealth. Today I am happy to invite Tom Chitta to speak to you about the Foundation for Children in Need of India. Every two years the Diocese of Ogdensburg invites someone to come to parishes to inform us about the Mission Cooperation programs of the Catholic Church, and to receive our contributions to these programs. The second collection today will be to assist the Foundation for Children in Need.