We cannot serve two masters God or wealth - which one is yours?

A TALE OF TWO TRIBUTES – WHICH OF THEM IS YOURS?

Eccles. 1:2, 2:21-23; Col. 3:1-5, 9-11 & Lk. 12:13-21

We often recite the Creed during Mass.  We believe that there is only one God but He exists in three Persons in eternity; that He created everything which exists.  And because He created everything, we can sing the refrain from Genesis, “God saw what He had made, and indeed it was very good.” 

And yet, in our hearts, is it possible that we might be tempted to make gods out of created things, which are in themselves good, while in our heads we worship the real Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

God wants us to enjoy a decent standard of living, and to have modest savings and reasonable insurance policies.  But what happens if we stop enjoying these good things in moderation with gratitude to God, if we overindulge in food and alcohol, if we fill our wardrobes with clothes we hardly wear, if we must have the latest equipment just to keep up with neighbours or colleagues, if we amass savings far beyond our needs?  

We do these things because we feel insecure or inferior within ourselves.  Instead of finding our security and trust in God, we try to find it on these things, only to become even more disillusioned. Today’s Gospel parable about the 'Rich Fool' challenges us to examine whether our attitude in life is to 'Eat, drink and be merry' like the Roman pagans.  Wealth and comforts are useless at the moment of death.  Even during this life, they are a source of sin:  they may lead to a certain meanness and disregard for the plight of the poor; anxiety and concern over possible burglary; quarrels between people and families over the share of goods in a will.  Instead, the Lord teaches us that true peace and contentment are to be found in distributing to the poor what is excess to our requirements.  What we hoard in this world makes us spiritually poor; what we give to the poor makes us rich in Heaven.

Our bodies and our sexuality are important components of God’s creation of us as human beings.  This means they are gifts to be valued and respected, whether in ourselves or in others.  The admiration of beauty in a person should lead us to praise and thank God because He, alone, is the source of all beauty.  It should also enable us to see the beauty of the person as a whole – not just in their physical appearance, but also in their emotions, their character and their spiritual life.  But genuine love of beauty can soon give way to lust and eventual fornication whether in deed of in thought.

Today’s second reading from Colossians invites us to kill everything in us that belongs to this earthly life:  fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires.  We know that our senses are the doors to our souls.  It is our responsibility to keep careful custody of our senses, especially our eyes.  The media, often under the disguise of fashion, encourage our propensity for lust, with images which are obviously immodest or downright rude.  Women should dress and behave immodestly and not tempt people to lust.

If certain magazines, or tabloid papers or TV programmes invite us to sin, it is our duty as Catholics not to buy such publications or watch such programmes.  Instead, the Lord asks us to cultivate a culture of Christian modesty and chaste loving.  Let us keep asking God for the grace of purity in our hearts, and keep watchful care of our senses, so that we admit into our hearts only those things which are pure, chaste, honourable and beautiful in the eyes of God.

We should never forget that each of us possess an inviolable human dignity from the fact that we have been created in the image and likeness of God.  This dignity is further enhanced by the gifts, both natural and supernatural, with which God has blessed us.  The talents we bring to our work can be examples of some of these natural gifts.  Indeed our human work is a participation in God’s creative work which contributes to human dignity.  Work, therefore, is to be welcomed as a gift and as a blessing from God requiring our conscientious efforts. 

However, this very work can become an idol which enslaves us, if we become so caught up in it that we have very little time to spend with God or with our family, or just to rest and relax.  As a result our prayer life and our family relationships suffer.  If we put our work on a pedestal we are setting it up as a false god.  Instead we should see our work as our humble contribution to the wellbeing of society.

Otherwise, sooner or later, when a crippling illness strikes us, or when we die, this illusion produced by a concentration on ourselves will crumble.  No wonder the preacher exclaims, “Vanity of vanities!  All is vanity!  What does a man gain for all his toil …?”  The Lord reminds us today that true greatness lies, not in making a god out of our work or our wills, but in using our gifts generously in the service of others.

Lord Jesus, rid us of the sins of greed, lust and pride.  Let us de-throne the false trinity of security, sexuality and self, and enthrone in our hearts the True Trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

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