Every Sunday, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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Our readings begin with the sentence from Ecclesiastes, “Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity.” But, to understand the phrase best, we need to look at the original Hebrew word for “vanity”. It is a translation of the word, hebel, which means something like “vapor” or “breath.” Now go back to the phrase “All things are vanity” and understand it in a new way. Everything is like a breath, or like smoke — it comes, and it goes. It is impossible to hold for any length of time.
That is what the author of Ecclesiastes is getting at. The things of this life don’t last, they are temporary. The things of this world are like smoke. It passes through our hands.
Money and the things that money buys causes us so much anxiety and division. The Gospel for today begins with a man coming to Jesus asking that Jesus demand that his brother give him his share of his inheritance. We all know of stories of families who are ripped apart trying to come to terms after the death of a parent when there is lots of money to be distributed. That is what is happening between the man in the Gospel and his brother.
Jesus says in response, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of one’s possessions.”
And there we go again — the things of this world do not define us, Jesus says. Because they are temporary.
Now, I am not saying that money isn’t important in this life. It is. But Jesus is telling us that it can’t become our goal or our obsession. In fact, if we are blessed with material riches, we should use what we have been given by God and be a blessing for others. Jesus will favor those who give what they have to those who have not.
And that leads us to the parable for today found in Luke 12. In this parable, a rich man had gathered so much stuff that he needed to build bigger barns for storage. He never thought of reducing his great load by giving some of it away to those who needed it more than he did. No, he wanted to hoard it for a future that would never come. He would die before he finished his extra barns. On the day of his death God says to him, “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?” Again — the things of this world are vanity, breath, smoke. They slip away from us. Then the only thing that is left is our soul.
Jesus ends today’s Gospel with his teaching on material wealth: “Thus it will be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”
If we want to be rich, we should be rich in the things of God: faith, hope, love and the good works that flow from these. Unfortunately, we often spend too much time working for riches that won’t stay with us a minute after we are gone.
Vanity of vanities. All is vanity.
But not God! God is not the “breath” that comes and then disappears. God is not smoke and mirrors. God is the opposite of vanity. God is the very ground of our existence. God is what lasts for us even after death. God is what gives us hope of our own Resurrection to Eternal Life.
May we seek God and those spiritual goods that come to us from above.
Have a blessed week everyone!