Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the gospel, Jesus has been speaking to his disciples about some weighty matters.  He has been telling them that they are not to be afraid of those who kill the body, that they are to have courage in times of persecution.  In the midst of this a man shouts out, “Tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”  Jesus curtly responds: I am not here to arbitrate family quarrels.  Then he takes off from this and warns the crowd: “Don’t be greedy.  Life is more than possessions – even when you have a lot!”

The story Jesus tells is about a man whose land suddenly gives him more: “A bountiful harvest.”  And what does he do with it?  We hear him talking to himself:  “Look at all I have.  But my barns are too small.  What shall I do?  I’ve got it!  I shall build more barns, bigger barns.  I shall take all my grain and all my good things and put them in the barns.  Then I shall eat, and I shall drink, and I shall be merry!  And I shall party, party, party.”

Listen to him: “I…I…I…I…I….”  This man only looks to himself – to stockpiling all he has.  No word of thanks to God, who gave the bountiful harvest.  No invitation to his friends to come celebrate his good fortune.  No sharing with his workers, no inviting them to join him, no giving them a bonus.  Nothing but me, me, me!  And so we hear the blazing voice of God cut in: “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?”

Now, this might sound like the “Gotcha God,” who is just waiting for things to be great and then comes and snatches you away.  But it is more about what we allow to matter most, what we give our hearts to.  As Jesus concludes: “Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”  To be rich in what matters to God is to trust in God’s providence.  The clock is ticking, so live trusting in God.  Seek the kingdom and what you need will be given.

How are we using our time?  Are we growing rich in what matters to God?  The question is posed to us as individuals, but also as a nation.  What do we do with the harvests that come our way?  Do we store up more and more and more?  How do we use the miracles of modern technology, the breakthroughs in medical research?  We just need to walk down the street and visit at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  This parable has been called “The Man who Mismanaged a Miracle.”  So much was given, but he only talked and listened to himself.  He only looked to his own good.  I think we heard too much of that in one of the national political conventions.

The Letter to the Colossians calls us to think of what is above: “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.”  With these words we hear the invitation to focus on Christ, who is with God.  Baptism plunges us into the saving paschal mystery, into his dying and rising.

In the meantime, the time in between, there is an agenda.  Use your time to “put to death immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and that greed that is idolatry.”  Use your time to “put on the new self, which is being renewed in the image of its creator.”  In the meantime, use your time to live in a way that treats all equally – not discriminating, not causing division, but living in a way that proclaims Christ is truly all and in all.

The author in our first reading was not just one note of gloom.  In other places of his book he calls on people to eat, drink, and be merry.  And that is what we do here.  We eat, we drink, and we are merry, rejoicing in all God has given.  For we can find security not in what we own but in the God who loves us and calls us to share our riches with others.  In doing that, we will truly have our fill and be God’s holy, merry people.

Paul A. Magnano

Pastor