Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time / Msgr. Owen F. Campion
The Sunday Readings
The first reading for Mass this weekend is from the Book of Ecclesiastes. The first verse states that the book is the work of Qoheleth, a son of King David, although no proper name is used.
The book’s name comes from its Greek, and then Latin translations. Some aspects of the book suggest that it was written long after the time of David and his sons. It shows the influence of Greek culture, which did not affect Judaism until centuries later. And the writing style in it reflects trends in Hebrew writing from much later.
So, the book’s origins are puzzling.
Many scholars today believe Ecclesiastes dates from only two or three centuries before Christ. A virtual trademark of this book is its condemnation of human vanity. This scorn of vanity is in this weekend’s reading.
Vanity, of course, affronts God, the Almighty and the perfect. It also displays the ignorance and illogic of humans, who overestimate themselves by seeing in human thought the greatest wisdom. Vanity also leads them to regard wealth and physical satisfaction as ultimate values, eventually causing them to spurn, or to discount, God.
For its second reading, the Church presents a passage from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians. Continuing the general message of the first reading, this passage from Colossians calls upon Christians to focus on the things that truly matter, namely the things of God. Paul counsels them to rise above temptations of this world. It sees sin essentially as idolatry.
St. Luke’s Gospel furnishes the last reading. Jesus appears in this reading as a mediator, asked by “someone in the crowd” to resolve a dispute about inheritance (Lk 12:13). Readers of the Gospel are accustomed to such questions being put to the Lord. Did this unnamed person in the crowd intend to trick Jesus, to put him in an awkward position, to draw him in the middle of an argument or to put the Lord at odds with some in the crowd?
Possibly. Still, inviting anyone to mediate a dispute was a compliment. Such questioning presupposed that the person being questioned possessed knowledge. Furthermore, it presupposed that all sides would respect the integrity and wisdom of the mediator. Not surprisingly, outright strangers, whose credentials were unknown, were not invited to mediate between arguing parties. Jesus was among people who knew him. Maybe with great deference, the Lord was regarded as being wise and informed.
According to the etiquette of the time, Jesus hesitates before proceeding.
Under Jewish custom, surviving children did not have to negotiate a clear division of a deceased parent’s belongings. There must have been a problem, but rather than plunging into the argument, the Lord’s advised avoiding greed, insisting that material wealth has no permanent worth.
The Lord then tells the parable of the landowner who had great good fortune. His harvest was great. He plans to store the harvest to provide for his easy living in years ahead. Such reasoning is foolhardy, Jesus said. No human can truly control his or her future. He then urged distributing any abundance among the needy.
Reflection
From the earliest times in the history of God’s revelation, people have dealt with the human tendency to measure all things, even life itself, in material terms. It was a tendency with which the author of Ecclesiastes dealt. The Colossian Christians dealt with it. The Lord Jesus dealt with it.
These readings do not call us to reckless waste and abandonment of good sense and responsibility. Instead, they remind us that we are in the hands of God. We ultimately control nothing about our future, save by our voluntary, total decision to be one with God in Christ. In this decision, we assure ourselves a place at heaven’s eternal banquet through the gift of God’s grace.
This lesson is simple. Put first things first. Put God first. †