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I once
visited the home of an elderly woman who was in her early-80s. She had
been a widowed since her mid-50s and, following her husband’s sudden
death from a heart attack, she invested the proceeds from his life
insurance policy wisely. Over the next two decades, this widow had
accumulated a pretty comfortable “nest egg,” one capable of covering all
of her living expenses as well as any future bills that might be
associated with medical treatment and nursing home care, when and if
those might be necessary. This woman appeared to possess everything she
needed. However, the more-Spartan like décor of her home suggested
that this widow didn’t have everything she wanted even though the income
from her investments certainly would make it possible for her to have
these and other unnecessary possessions.
Once seated in
her family room, I spied a framed needlepoint which stated, “Being of
sound mind, I will spend it all.” I chuckled to myself, and only to
myself so I thought, after reading that needlepoint. However, the widow
asked what I was smirking about.
I told her that I
couldn’t count the number of times I’ve witnessed the sad aftermath of
someone’s life where the reading of the will resulted in finger-pointing
and venomous statements filled with hostility, rage, and vengeance being
spewed across a lawyer’s conference room table, all of which led to the
destruction of filial relationships. I related her stories of children
and grandchildren as well as sisters and brothers who didn’t simply
bicker with one another. No, they actually stated—without even blinking
an eye—how they were “owed” something, how they’ve been “promised”
something else, how everyone else seated around the table was only
looking out for themselves and their selfish self-interests, etc.
The widow was
shocked by some of the explicit details I was able to relate which
illustrated the point about just how far people are willing to go to
allow what St. Paul called in today’s Epistle “the greed that is
idolatry” to devour their souls.
Referencing the
needlepoint piece, the widow said, “When my husband passed away so
suddenly—he was gone the flash of an instant—I realized that much of
what we had accumulated I really didn’t need. How I wished I could have
given back all of that and more…if only I could have my husband back.
Of course, I knew that wasn’t possible. So, I determined to live the
rest of my life making sure that I’d be able to have everything I needed
but nothing more and, that when I died, there wouldn’t be any squabbling
between my children and grandchildren. I assure you, Father, when I’m
gone, there won’t be much left that’ll be worth fighting over.
This widow struck
me to be a very wise person. Why? Because it truly is a sad
spectacle to behold family members allowing the greed that is idolatry
to devour their souls and destroy their families, a spectacle due solely
and simply to greed. Not only do many inheritors believe they deserve
something, but they also believe they deserve more than what has been
specified in a will. Not infrequently, inheritors will spend thousands
(and I have personally witnessed, millions) of dollars trying to block
another family member, friend, or acquaintance of the deceased from
getting a share of the estate or just trying to increase the size of
their personal share. In addition, inheritors will battle to the point
that they knowingly exhaust their individual shares of the estate…just
to be able to claim victory over another family member.
What people whose
greed has entrapped them in this vicious and avaricious snare don’t
realize is that any inheritance is an outright gift—not a birthright—and
their blindness to this fact is being fueled by what St. Paul says
should be put do death. As he stated this in today’s Epistle: “Put to
death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity,
passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.”
It isn’t only at
the reading of a will that greed can emerge from within our souls.
Watching television shows and commercials, gazing upon merchandise for
sale on the shelves of department stores, visiting friends or family
members and seeing what they possess and we don’t, or even perusing
catalogues that arrive each day via third class mail, we think to
ourselves: “If only I had this…” or “If only I could get that…” “…how
much happier I would be.”
When we come to
the painful realization that what we need isn’t
necessarily what we want, we see how foolish we really
are. Sadly, it sometimes takes a tragedy to teach us this important
lesson. We will see how we’ve spent so much time working so hard to
accumulate so many things. We will see how we’ve collected all sorts of
possessions and, then, how we’ve set about collecting even more
possessions. All the time, however, we haven’t asked ourselves what
purpose all of these possessions serve as we’ve stuffed our old
possessions into closets, basements, and attics just to make room for
all of our newly-acquired possessions which we believe will us all so
much more very happy than those other possessions did. And, if we’re
lucky enough to live to a ripe old age, we will find ourselves in a
painful quandary and we really will not know what to do when nature
conspires to force us to downsize. People actually suffer and
experience intense sadness, depression, and pain when they find
themselves having to decide how they are going to dispose of all their
unnecessary possessions because the time has now arrived to move into a
care facility.
Certainly some
possessions are necessary and do fill very practical needs. But, the
spiritual problem which the idolatry that is driven by greed presents to
us as Jesus’ disciples is that everything we’ve hoarded into our larders
serves no purpose other than to dull and then to deaden our
consciousness to the fact that we will die. We allow our possessions to
provide comfortable cushions that make it possible for us to live in a
fantasy world promising a non-existent but deeply hoped-for future.
What we fail to contemplate, however, is the sobering reality that this
fantasy will never come to pass. Perhaps for a while we can live
comfortably in what we experience as the lap of luxury. But, in
the end, we are mere mortals.
So, why do we
work so hard to earn enough money so that we can possess all of these
things when, in fact, we know at a minimum that we have no guarantee
we’ll even have the time to enjoy them?
In today’s first
reading, Quoheleth preaches to his congregation about this important
concept by saying “Useless. Useless. All things are useless!” You can
almost feel his passion as Quoheleth challenges the members of his
congregation: “So, someone works hard and dies. What value is there in
all of this hard work, knowing that the good person and the evil person
come to the same end? Isn’t life even more pointless when we consider
the fact that lazy and evil people—called ‘inheritors’—will benefit from
the hard work of good people like us?” Life is absurd, Quoheleth
maintains, not for a materialistic reason. No, life is absurd for
a much more crucial spiritual reason: people believe possessions will
bring the abiding happiness they want so badly.
Today’s gospel
builds upon this ancient spiritual teaching by relating one facet of
what is, in reality, a lengthy teaching about discipleship and what this
implies for us if we are sincere about living a Christian life.
You might recall
the first facet of this teaching, one revealed two weeks ago in the
gospel about two sisters, Martha and Mary. Busy about all of the
details of hospitality, Martha gets peeved with her sister for not
providing any help. So, Martha goes and complains to Jesus about Mary’s
insensitivity. But, Jesus chides Martha, telling her that Mary was busy
about “better things.” In this instance, the better thing was being
attentive to Jesus’ teaching and contemplating what it means about how
to live one’s life. Discipleship isn’t simply “doing” things but first
“contemplating” what one needs to do and the type of person one needs to
be for oneself and for others. In this sense, what a
disciple does gives tangible expression to what a disciple needs
to do.
The second facet
of this lengthy teaching about discipleship was revealed in last week’s
gospel when Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to pray.
Instead of praying to God for everything they want as if God will be
moved by such egoistic narcissism, Jesus told his disciples to focus
instead intently upon God: “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father’.”
Disciples are to ask God only for what they need, namely, daily bread,
forgiveness, and deliverance from the final test.
The third facet
of this teaching is revealed in today’s gospel in which Jesus hears
someone in the crowd shout out, “Tell my brother to share the
inheritance with me!” What this scene didn’t include was what had just
transpired when Jesus was engaged in a rather serious conversation with
his disciples, counseling them against their fear of death. Jesus said
to his disciples: “I tell you friends, do not be afraid of those who can
kill you and want to. Take courage when they bring you to the trial.”
It’s in the
middle of this scene when the person in the crowd shouts out, “Tell my
brother to share the inheritance with me.” Clearly, this individual
wasn’t listening to Jesus because he had been teaching the disciples
about a real threat, not to their material possessions but to their
spiritual lives. All this individual was worried about was the threat
posed by not getting the money he believed he deserved.
Jesus responded
to this person’s question by telling a story that is critical neither of
wealth nor its accumulation. After all, the man in the parable worked
very hard, made sound plans and financial decisions, and earned his
wealth in an honorable and just way. What Jesus does criticize,
however, is how this man hoarded his wealth and spent his days
accumulating more and more wealth for a future day. Then, this fellow
died unexpectedly and, therefore, all of his hard work came to mean
nothing and especially so if his inheritors ended up squabbling over
their share of his estate. Jesus wasn’t arguing against planning for
retirement and IRAs; no, Jesus was arguing against the greed that is
idolatry because none of us can guarantee that there will be a tomorrow.
Put succinctly,
the distinction between what I want and what I need
is the difference between my desire to possess material things
and my being possessed by them. It’s also the distinction between
living life through my possessions and of my living a fully human life.
Lastly, it’s the distinction between being enslaved to my possessions
and of my living in freedom as God’s son or daughter.
Spiritually
speaking, Quoheleth raises an especially important question about our
spiritual lives when he asks, “What is the point of life?” This
question becomes vitally important, however, when materialism and
consumerism motivate us and we end up finding ourselves possessing just
about everything we could ever want but find ourselves equally unhappy
and dissatisfied. Surrounded and comforted by our possessions, we
don’t ask “What is the point of life?” nor do we contemplate the fact
that day—for some of us a day that will be much sooner than it will be
later—when everyone will be turning their backs on us as they proceed
home to all of their possessions and leave us there in a cemetery, lying
alone, toes up, in a stone cold grave.
Worse yet, the
unhappiness and dissatisfaction we experienced as well as the onset of
weakness or ill health provided the perfect opportunity to confront our
mortality and to learn, just as Quoheleth had learned, that having
placed our faith in material possessions, we never really did live our
lives nor did we experience the true happiness that awaits us living in
a right relationship with God and patterning our lives according to His
commands.
What we need if
we are to be fully human and to experience the freedom of God’s sons and
daughters...that is what we should be seeking. The simple fact is that
we so often find ourselves wanting so many things that have utterly
nothing to do with what we need. And, when we accede to our desire to
acquire everything we want, we live in excess today having little or no
awareness of the future.
But God said…“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.
Jesus doesn’t
teach his disciples that wealth and possessions are sinful. What Jesus
does suggest to his disciples is that their use of these blessings might
prove to be mortally sinful if they lull his disciples into the false
belief that they are in control of our lives and their futures, if they
think and act as if they will never die, if they believe we can “have it
all” without accepting personal responsibility for how this impacts the
lives of others, and if they fail to acknowledge that everything they
possess is “on loan” and temporary. After all, of what ultimate value
would it be if Jesus’ disciples were able to possess everything they
could possibly want yet had forsaken what they truly need?
In a world of
war, terror warnings, economic downturns and recessions, unemployment,
narcotics, drugs, and the like, it is so easy to get wrapped up into
looking for the false security that material things do provide. Then,
after we conclude that we’ve discovered what gives security––for
example, landing the perfect job, making the perfect business deal,
retiring early with good benefits––we lull ourselves into a sense of
false security. Unfortunately, we then lose sight of and become blind
to the fact that life is not a matter of getting into some “safe zone”
where life passes by without any problems or challenges, where we are in
absolute control, where our consciences won’t bother us, and we will
exist forever in bliss.
“Useless.
Useless. All things are useless,” if we but contemplate what we need in
light of eternal life.
So, here’s the
real deal: when you find yourself desiring to purchase something you
know that you don’t really need, don’t forget my dictum about
possessions: “You’ve never seen a U-Haul attached to a hearse.” |
HOMILY
