August 1 – Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23

Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11

Luke 12:13-21

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

You fool! To not be rich in what matters to God is to be a fool. The Dictionary defines a fool as

• one who lacks understanding and reason, a dupe
• someone who has missed the point about something; who could not see what was there
• someone who has missed the point of what life is all about.

If we would be called a fool by a stranger, it would hurt. If a neighbor or a family member would call us a fool, it would really shake us up.

Imagine what it would be like to die and come to the pearly gates and meet God. God shakes his head and says: You fool! You missed everything. You missed the whole point of your life. Now, that would be hard!!!

To be rich in what matters to God prevents us from being a fool. The First and Second Readings are given to us today to help us reflect on what matters to God. The First Reading opens with the statement: Vanity of vanities … all things are vanity. The author gives us an example of someone who worked with wisdom, knowledge and skill. As a result this person accumulated some property. To whom will it go when death comes? To another who has not labored over it. And then the author adds: This also is vanity and a great misfortune. We cannot take our stuff with us when we die. We must have material things to live in this world, but these things do not make us rich in what matters eternally. We must leave them all behind.

But there is such a thing as being rich in what matters to God. This wealth follows us into eternity. What are the riches that matter to God? Basically it is having a clean heart. The Second Reading tells us to get rid of immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and that greed that is idolatry; and stop lying to one another. These we give up so we can receive and have room for God in our heart.

My dear fellow monks. A clean heart. In Chapter 72 of his Rule St. Benedict speaks of the good zeal which separates from evil and leads to God and everlasting life (V 2). Lord, please give each of us this good zeal.

You fool! What a horrible thing it would be to have God call us that. A pure heart is what we need. As it says in Psalm 51: A pure heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit sustain in me (Ps 51:12). Ask God for that, and peace be with you.