Eighteenth Sunday of the Year: C: July 31, 2022

 WORLDLY RICHES V/S ETERNAL HAPPINESS

First Reading: Ecclesiastes 1: 2 and 2: 21-23

Second Reading: Colossians 3: 1-5 and 9-11

Gospel Reading: Luke 12: 13-21

   *First reading is from the book of Ecclesiastes. The immense troubles we undertake to acquire material wealth even though it brings us little security are narrated. Life makes no sense if it has no deeper goal than achieving worldly possessions and success. Because this world and all it holds are nothing but sheer folly and emptiness in the sight of the Lord God.

   *Second reading is from the letter of St. Paul to Colossians. Paul reminds the Christian community at Colossia and all of us that we are a new creation in Christ. We have to turn our attention from worldly things and seek the things of heaven. Because, having been raised up with Christ in baptism, we have to keep God as the center of our lives and avoid the things that endanger eternal joy. 

The parable of the rich fool                                                                              Today's Gospel passage for our reflection is from St. Luke. Jesus illustrates the parable of the rich fool. This parable was told in the context of a  dispute between two brothers regarding their property. Jesus was asked by one of them to mediate and divide their inheritance between them. Jesus reminds him and all of us that life is much more than the abundance of a person's possessions. Then Jesus tells the parable of the rich man. He is extremely wealthy and yet he desires to store up his bumper crop for greater security and happiness. Jesus calls him a fool because he neglected three most important factors for real and lasting happiness. 1. He forgot God - he does not even have a little thought that all his possessions are gifts from the Almighty. 2. He forgot eternal life - he is merely looking for temporal happiness in this world. 3. He totally ignores his obligation to the poor and to the needy. This parable seriously warns everyone of us to take stock of the things and possession in our lives in the context of eternal life. 

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony." - Mahatma Gandhi.

"Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have." - Anon

"Where your pleasure is, there is your treasure; where your treasure is, there is your heart; where your heart is, there is your happiness." - St. Augustine.