20190804
SEEK
A HIGHER PURPOSE IN LIFE
04 AUGUST, 2019,
Sunday, 18th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Ecclesiastes
1:2,2:21-23 ©
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Vanity of vanities; all is vanity
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Vanity of vanities, the Preacher says.
Vanity of vanities. All is vanity!
For
so it is that a man who has laboured wisely, skilfully and successfully must
leave what is his own to someone who has not toiled for it at all. This, too,
is vanity and great injustice; for what does he gain for all the toil and
strain that he has undergone under the sun? What of all his laborious days, his
cares of office, his restless nights? This, too, is vanity.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
89(90):3-6,12-14,17 ©
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O Lord, you have been
our refuge from one generation to the next.
You turn men back to dust
and say: ‘Go back, sons of
men.’
To your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday, come and
gone,
no more than a watch in the
night.
O Lord, you have been
our refuge from one generation to the next.
You sweep men away like a dream,
like the grass which springs
up in the morning.
In the morning it springs up and flowers:
by evening it withers and
fades.
O Lord, you have been
our refuge from one generation to the next.
Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of
heart.
Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?
Show pity to your servants.
O Lord, you have been
our refuge from one generation to the next.
In the morning, fill us with your love;
we shall exult and rejoice all
our days.
Let the favour of the Lord be upon us:
give success to the work of
our hands.
O Lord, you have been
our refuge from one generation to the next.
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Second reading
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Colossians 3:1-5,9-11 ©
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You must look for the things that are in
heaven, where Christ is
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Since you have been brought back to true
life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ
is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not
on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life
you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed – and
he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.
That
is why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life:
fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which
is the same thing as worshipping a false god; and never tell each other lies.
You have stripped off your old behaviour with your old self, and you have put
on a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed
in the image of its creator; and in that image there is no room for distinction
between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised or the uncircumcised, or between
barbarian and Scythian, slave and free man. There is only Christ: he is
everything and he is in everything.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn17:17
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Mt5:3
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Alleluia, alleluia!
How happy are the poor in spirit:
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 12:13-21 ©
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Fool! This very night your soul will be
demanded of you
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A man in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Master,
tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance.’ ‘My friend,’ he
replied, ‘who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?’ Then
he said to them, ‘Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for
a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he
needs.’
Then
he told them a parable: ‘There was once a rich man who, having had a good
harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough
room to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will pull
down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in
them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid
by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.” But
God said to him, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul;
and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?” So it is when a man stores up
treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.’
SEEK A HIGHER
PURPOSE IN LIFE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23; Ps 90:3-6,12-14,17 OR Ps 95: 1-2,6-9; Col 3:1-5.9-11; Lk 12:13-21 ]
Most of us live on the
sensual level, like the rest of the animal kingdom. This is understandable because we are
constituted of flesh like other animals. We are afraid of pain, suffering
and discomfort. Our body desires pleasure. That is why we all seek
pleasures in life using our taste, touch, sight, smell and hearing. Through
the five senses, we indulge in the joys of life. Hence, being materially
secure is one of the most important aspirations of our life. We believe
that with money, we can live a life of ease and pleasure. This was
the thinking of the Rich Fool in today’s gospel. He thought to himself,
“This is what I will do; I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and
store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul,
you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things
easy, eat, drink, have a good time.” However, Jesus warned, “Fool! This
very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours,
whose will it be then?”
Indeed, security in life
is not determined simply by material sufficiency. This is why Jesus
warned against greed.
When someone asked Jesus, “‘Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our
inheritance.’ ‘My friend,’ he replied, ‘who appointed me your judge, or the
arbitrator of your claims?’ Then he said to them, ‘Watch, and be on your guard
against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he
owns, even when he has more than he needs.'” Happiness in life is
not determined solely by how much we own and how much wealth or power we have.
On the contrary, those who are wealthy and powerful have more to lose because
they have to protect their wealth and their status from being taken away by
others. They are more insecure, spending their time, protecting and
growing their wealth, instead of enjoying them; securing their position in
society, making them prisoners unto themselves for fear of their enemies and
competitors.
This explains why many
who have arrived at the height of their career or their achievements in life,
come to realise the vanity of all these pursuits. Solomon who reigned at the height of
Israel’s glory and wealth, had all that he wanted in life. He had all the
wealth of the kingdom, enjoyed all the pleasures of the world, made great
strides in extending his power and gaining recognition from neighbour states as
far as Egypt, but realised the futility of seeking wisdom. (Eccl 1:16-18) He spoke of the futility of
self-indulgence, enjoying everything under the sun. (Eccl 2:1-11) He realised the futility of ambition,
of toiling so hard and ending with nothing. Indeed, he concluded, “Vanity
of vanities. All is vanity! For so it is that a man who has laboured
wisely, skilfully and successfully must leave what is his own to someone who
has not toiled for it at all. This, too, is vanity and great injustice; for
what does he gain for all the toil and strain that he has undergone under the
sun? What of all his laborious days, his cares of office, his restless nights?
This, too, is vanity.”
Indeed, I have come
across many successful people who, having arrived at their summit of life,
looked back and realised that their life has been wasted. Spending their whole life building
their financial nest, working day and night to make more money and acquiring
properties and things, often at the expense of other people’s lives and
reputation; neglecting their loved ones, suffering broken marriages and a
divided family, they now live in regret. Money, power and fame cannot
bring happiness. They all bring deep regrets because these people realise
too late that they were chasing after vanities. These things do not
really matter at the end of the day. They cannot have fulfilment even if
one has all the wealth, power, fame and glory in the world. It
is the love of money, power and pleasure that makes us lose our focus as we
become slaves to them, seeing them as the ends rather than the means to life
and love.
In truth, it is not that
money, work, fame or pleasure is evil. In themselves, they are blessings from
God. We should be happy and grateful when God blesses us with
money, wealth, food, luxuries in life, meaningful work and business
opportunities. It is lawful and legitimate to enjoy the gifts of
creation. God has given the whole of creation to us for our enjoyment and
to grow to become happy and fulfilled persons. We should not despise the
things of this world that are given to man for our use. Even Jesus knew
how to enjoy and dine with others. But we must use them for others’
happiness as well.
We cannot use them simply
for ourselves alone and in a way that alienates us from others. St Paul warns us. “That is
why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life:
fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which
is the same thing as worshipping a false god; and never tell each other
lies.” When the blessings of God are used for the worship of self, the
destruction of others, for selfish and sinful pleasures, these so-called
blessings will become woes and curses instead. When we use our wealth and
power to manipulate and take advantage of others, we hurt people and destroy
their lives. We create enemies. What we sow will be what we
reap. St Paul warns us, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for
you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap
corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal
life from the Spirit.” (Gal 6:7f) The Lord concluded, “So it is when a
man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight
of God.”
The way to find real
happiness is to make ourselves rich in the sight of God. What does it
mean? It means that we are called to become more and more like Christ. Christ is our model and the way to
truth and life. St Paul wrote, “You have stripped off your old behaviour
with your old self, and you have put on a new self which will progress towards
true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its creator; and in that
image there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the
circumcised or the uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and
free man. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything.”
We are called to insert ourselves in Christ so that Christ might be in us and
when He is all in all, we are all in Him. “When all things are subjected
to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all
things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.” (1 Cor 15:28)
This entails recognising
who we are. We are not like the rest of the animal kingdom. We do not
have just a body but also a soul and a spirit. Happiness in life is not just looking
after our bodily and physical needs. We also have affective and spiritual
needs as well because we have a soul and a spirit. We need the love of
our fellowmen and the need to love them. Only by being loved by our
fellowmen, can we find true security, peace and joy. Only when we reach
out to others in love and service, do we find ourselves, see the difference we
can make in the lives of others, and find our value and significance in this
world. Just loving ourselves alone makes no sense and does not empower
us, or give us life. We become lonely, self-centred and cut off from
people who truly love us. Only by loving others, caring and
sharing, do we become truly human beings.
Secondly, we must live
for the fullness of life that is to come after we finish our pilgrimage on this
earth. “Since
you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the
things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let
your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth,
because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God.
But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in
all your glory with him.” St Paul reminds us, “But our citizenship is in
heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be
conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to
make all things subject to himself.” (Phil 3:20f) We must already live the life of
Christ here and now if we are to share with Him the fullness of the resurrected
life when we die.
Indeed, the psalmist
warns us about the shortness of life.
“You turn men back to dust and say: ‘Go back, sons of men.’ To your eyes a
thousand years are like yesterday, come and gone, no more than a watch in the
night. You sweep men away like a dream, like the grass which springs up
in the morning. In the morning it springs up and flowers: by evening it withers
and fades. Make us know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom
of heart. Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever? Show pity to your
servants.” We have only one life to live on this earth. How we live
this life will determine our happiness in the next life, not just this
life. So let us use our resources well and our blessings to bless others
so that in the process, we also bless ourselves. That way, life
becomes meaningful and enriching.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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