Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 1, 2010 - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23; Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11; Luke 12:13-21]For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun? [Eccl.] Take care of guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions. [Luke]
Are you a pack rat? A "save it just in case" type person? When was the last time the car fit in the garage? People who come to the United States from "third world" countries are amazed at the amount of "stuff" we accumulate and how much we waste! We are the premier consumer society on the planet! The American work ethic is also a source of amazement to outsiders. We seem to spend far more time at work and less time at enjoying the fruits of our labor than any other society - a strange thing since most of us are not subsistence farmers or have to think about sheer survival every day as in other parts of the world. Ecclesiastes and Jesus have some words to say to us today. There is not enough time to go into the broad economic and social justice questions that are implied in my first paragraph! However, I think we can all benefit from a brief examination of our relationship to our "stuff!" How important are my many books to me? How about those "kitchen gadgets?" I'm sure you could find equivalents somewhere. Is it matter of our consuming something or BEING consumed by something? I think the gospel strikes us there. We may think we're in control of what we do and/or earn but the gospel warns us that what we "earn" or produce may indeed be in control of us. We were not baptized to go forth and bear "economic" fruit, but fruit "that will last." Strangely enough, a popular commercial by a credit card company (that symbol of consumption and spending) speaks to things that "money can't buy!" Perhaps we should pay more attention to that one part of the commercial! Love, friendship, family, faith - how much time do we have to cultivate these realities? They are the powerful but often intangible forces that give meaning to life. For those who are unemployed, the lack of a good job is a great suffering because it impacts all these "intangibles." I don't want to make it seem like one is better off if one is unemployed! The question is more about why one should be employed and what we are truly working for. The rich man in today's gospel thought he "had it made." The Lord says differently. Which one is to be our model? AMEN
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