Reading I
Ec
1:2; 2:21-23
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?
All his days sorrow and grief are their occupation;
even at night his mind is not at rest.
This also is vanity.
Responsorial
Psalm
Ps 90:3-4,
5-6, 12-13, 14, 17
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
You turn man back to dust,
saying, "Return, O children of men."
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
You make an end of them in their sleep;
the next morning they are like the changing grass,
which at dawn springs up anew,
but by evening wilts and fades.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Reading II
Col
3:1-5, 9-11
Brothers and sisters:
If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died,
and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ your life appears,
then you too will appear with him in glory.
Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire,
and the greed that is idolatry.
Stop lying to one another,
since you 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.
Here there is not Greek and Jew,
circumcision and uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, slave, free;
but Christ is all and in all.
Gospel
Lk 12:13-21
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
"Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me."
He replied to him,
"Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?"
Then he said to the crowd,
"Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one's life does not consist of possessions."
Then he told them a parable.
"There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, 'What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?'
And he said, 'This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, "Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!"'
But God said to him,
'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?'
Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves
but are not rich in what matters to God."
In today’s First Reading, Qoheleth speaks of vanity and assures the reader that since work is arduous, and making long-range plans for possessions is impossible, we should try to find enjoyment in modesty and in the rewards of modest toil.
In the Second Reading Paul wants to assure us that all messianic promises are fulfilled in Christ: “Christ is seated at the right hand of God”. However, even though the resurrection has already taken place, all the conditions of the end times are not present. There still exists a gap between earth and heaven. In other words, the fulfillment of the “body of Christ” is still to come. Paul then gives us Baptismal imagery that enumerates sins of the body and passions. Those who have been baptized must put aside these things because they are of the “old nature”. Only by putting these things aside can the baptized truly become the “body of Christ”.
In the Gospel passage is the beginning of a long meditation on the negative effects possessions can have on disciples. There is great emphasis on greed because false teachers were seen as greedy. The story that follows warns disciples about the futility of relying on wealth and possessions. The “fool” in the story totally eliminates God and neighbor from his concerns, instead his only concern is himself. The eating and drinking spoken of in the story is a reference to a life of self-indulgence. In the end, the story forces the reader to ask the question: What is life all about?
What the world teaches about happiness is that it is found
in things, what we possess and what we desire. This stance that the world has
regarding happiness is not new. For centuries, different cultures and religions
have tried tirelessly to make us realize that true happiness does not reside in
things. Following is a wise story that addresses these things very well and even
helps us understand today’s Gospel lesson even better: A wise man once decided
to hide happiness from man. He believed that man did not deserve to be happy,
because of his very nature towards evil. The wise man consulted with great
thinkers and asked them to find a place to hide happiness. After some time, the
great thinkers returned with this answer: "Hide happiness in the center
of the earth; man shall not find it there". The wise man reflected on
that and responded: "One day, man will be able to create a machine which
can dig deep into the earth and find happiness. We must find another
place". Again the great thinkers returned with another answer: "Hide
happiness at the bottom of the ocean, for surely no man can reach it
there". The wise man reflected and gave this response: "One
day, man will build large steal fishes in which he will ride and be able to
explore the depths of the ocean and find happiness. We must find another
place". The great thinkers again pondered on this great task and
returned with yet another answer: "We have finally found a place that
man will never reach. Hide happiness in the vastness of space for man will never
find it there". After a long silence the wise man said: "Man
will one day build huge steal birds with great wings to propel himself through
space and may come upon happiness. That is not the place.
But I now know where to hide happiness. Man will always look for
happiness in what he can see and touch; in those things which are outside of
him. That is why I will hide happiness in his heart for he will never look
inside of himself to find it".
What great truth there is in this story. Living in our present world with so much technology we can see the wisdom of the man in the story. Modern man has gone to great length and enormous expense to conquer the oceans and space, and all in search of something. That something maybe happiness, wealth, success, or recognition. I believe that what we are searching for is a way to fill the void within our very person and this can only be filled with God. Our hearts will always yearn for something, for that completeness that can only come from our Creator, yet to fill the void with God we must accept God and his laws and this means we must change our system of values. When this becomes difficult, we then continue to search outside of ourselves. We search in other things like wealth and power in the hope that these things will complete what is lacking in us. Jesus assures us that our life does not depend on possessions but rather in loving God and neighbor – in doing and living for others. Possessions are just an added bonus. Today’s Gospel is a challenge to seek the Kingdom of God where the only true happiness can be found. So we must question ourselves by asking: Where will I search for my happiness?
New American Bible; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Crenshaw, J. L., “Ecclesiastes” Gordis, R., “Koheleth – The Man and His Word”; Bruce, F. F., “The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians”; Fitzmyer, J. A., “TheGospel According to Luke”; LaVerdiere, E., “Luke”; Maddox, R., “The Purpose of Luke-Acts”; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., “Introduction to the New Testament”; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) “The New Jerome Biblical Commentary".
Deacon Lazaro J. Ulloa