Reflection on the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23       Psalm 90 (91)       Colossians 3:1-11        Luke 12:13-21

In today’s first reading, from the beginning of the book of Ecclesiastes, Qoheleth, the wisdom teacher, muses over the emptiness of human endeavor. Whether knowledge, wealth, love, life itself, the value of everything is elusive and illusory.  Our wisest, most skillful efforts will eventually end and likely end up in unworthy hands; our well-intentioned actions will probably go awry; our best laid plans will end in futility or irrelevancy.  To have our best efforts end in vain, or end up in the hands of indifferent caretakers, or shrivel for lack of faith and vision — any of these outcomes is a great evil; not a sinful or criminal evil, but a demoralizing and distressing loss, causing deep sorrow and grief.  As Qoheleth says, “vanity of vanities, all things are vanity.’

Perhaps this sounds like the future that’s bearing down on Loretto. Personally, I feel some fear about that.

Here’s a dilemma: How can one sustain activity, contribute energy to life, without some earnest commitment to a goal, a direction, a purpose?  Yet disappointment seems to come on the heels of caring; with commitment and emotional investment comes grief and loss. The introduction to the book of Ecclesiastes in the Jerusalem Bible interprets Qoheleth’s fatalism as an argument that a new revelation is needed. Today’s Psalm expresses the same need: in the psalm we prayed that God will “teach us to number our days aright”; that God will give us wisdom to properly assess our own efforts and their outcomes, not in the glow of our own desires but in the light of God’s “gracious care.” Personally, I deeply need and desire that new balance.

The reading from Ecclesiastes is paired with the Epistle to the Colossians, suggesting that the way to avoid the pain of vain effort is to turn our energies toward heavenly things. The Colossians passage is typical of Paul, for whom “earthly” things are the faults and failings of human nature, whereas “heavenly things” are the very same human tendencies, but reoriented, redeemed in Christ.  This, then, is the new revelation: The vanity of human effort is made fruitful in Christ, by being realigned with the grand designs of the creator.  

Coming to the Gospel, we find Jesus’ parable of the unusually successful farmer.  Even as the farmer undertakes a large building project to house his abundant harvest, he is stopped in his tracks by untimely death. And the message? Qoheleth would hear the old message, “Even a bountiful harvest is in vain because you can’t take it with you.”  Jesus, however, sums up his story in different terms: “Better to be rich in what matters to God.” Instead of action on our own terms and in our own self-interest, we are invited to join our intentions to Christ, in whom the whole of creation works to reveal the loving care of God.

Trying to apply Jesus’ message to our Loretto end times, I come away with these thoughts:  

• Today’s readings warn that greed and selfishness are self-centered, and thus are impediments to seeking what matters to God. I need to consider that selfishness or greediness, even just simple clinging, may lie hidden in my heartfelt desire for Loretto’s legacy to continue in a tangible form.
• I deeply believe that some legacy from Loretto can and should continue into the future. Yet I must admit I have not probed whether my ideas align with what matters to God. I don’t know what that probing would look like. Turning to today’s Psalm, let us pray again that God will “teach us to number our days aright.” “We give you glory, thanks, and praise. Oh, bless our works and guide our ways.”