Beyond Possessions: Finding Wisdom in a World Obsessed with More | Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time | Sunday Reflection

There was a time when the famed Hearst Estate in California was officially the most expensive residential property listing in America. Located on thousands of acres of land, the famed Hearst Castle consisted of four houses, a security cottage, a ballroom, a library, three swimming pools, and twenty-nine bathrooms! The estimated cost of building the castle today would be around $700 million. We hear about places like that and have to wonder what it must be like to live that kind of life. But then, we hear today’s gospel parable.

A man spends his life becoming rich – “acquiring a bountiful harvest.” He tears down barns to build bigger ones and then makes plans to enjoy the rest of his life with all he has accumulated. (Who knows? Maybe he had three swimming pools and twenty-nine bathrooms, too!)

But in the middle of it all, God speaks to him: “You fool.” The man is about to die and everything he has collected will be gone. “You fool.” And those of us hearing those words can only wonder: Is God talking to me?

You and I know how it is. The more we have, the more we want. For instance, you are happy with that nice cell phone you have had for several years – but then along comes the newest iPhone. You see the ads for it everywhere and every day there are TV commercials about it. A friend goes out and gets one and as soon as he shows it to you, you begin to drool. You start looking for ways to get one for yourself. You do not need a new phone. But that does not matter. You have just got to have it. And before you know it, you are all set to tear down your barn and build a bigger one. Just for your iPhone.

I know that feeling. Believe me, I have been there, too. Guilty as charged. This is the world you and I live in – and it is the world Jesus lived in, too. Our toys have changed, but our impulses have not.

This scripture readings for this weekend encourage us to be better than that. “Put to death,” St. Paul writes, “the parts of you that are earthly.” “Vanity of vanities,” we hear in the Old Testament passage from Ecclesiastes. “All is vanity!” But God still puts it the clearest way: “You fool.” We spend so much of our lives trying to get what we really do not need – and so often we lose sight of what we do need.

In the gospel, Jesus cautions us about storing up treasure for ourselves while not being “rich in what matters to God.” God does not say we cannot have treasures. But we need to be “rich in what matters to God.” What does that mean?

Over the last few weekends, segments from St. Luke’s gospel have provided insight into “what matters to God”:

We have heard…

• to not look at what was left behind
• to be bearers of peace
• to love God and love our neighbor
• to pay attention to the Lord
• and, in last week’s gospel, Jesus even taught us how to pray.

All of this is so fundamental. It is the heart of Christ’s message to the world. But it is so easy to forget it or neglect it when there are new toys waiting to be bought.

Yes, we can forget “what matters to God.” We can forget what it means to make room for others in our lives. We can so easily forget the God who brought this world into being and then showed us how to pray for one another, how to lift up one another, how to love one another.

In this weekend’s gospel, Jesus tells us: “Though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” What is called for is a new appreciation for the words found in today’s psalm: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.”

This is a wisdom all of us need to pray for – probably now more than ever. It is the wisdom to remember what is important. The wisdom to appreciate and value those around us. The wisdom to live every day for what it is – a gift from God – and to give it back to God with thankfulness and joy. The wisdom to love as Jesus showed us – generously, selflessly, completely.

“God, teach us to number our days aright…that we may gain wisdom of heart.”