Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
We are a generation that in very tangible and dreadful terms knows the effects of human greed. Where shall we begin? Let me see… Shall we begin with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? How can successive governments and multinational corporations allow deep sea drilling without the technology to stem an accidental disaster? They tell us now that the entire department that oversees such operations is rife with corruption. I wonder how many politicians receive money for their campaign form these very corporations. H about all the foreclosures? Was that not caused by greedy banks and their executives wanting quicker and larger profits? Who is paying for it now? Banks got bailed out but not the people who lost their homes. They tell us now that 90% of the ninety million dollars assigned for reconstruction in Iraq cannot be accounted for. Let us see if the guilty will stand on the dock. The effects of just these disasters are enough to send our minds spinning. Greed is a horrific thing. In the Catholic tradition, it is counted among the Seven Deadly Sins.
And so in the gospel reading, Jesus rightly gives us a warning: “Take care to guard against all greed…” St. Paul too in the second reading from the letter to the Colossians also warns, “Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed that is idolatry.” The Webster dictionary defines greed as “excessive or rapacious desire for wealth, possessions etc.” Generally, we associate greed with material possessions. However, if greed is defined as “excessive desire,” then it can be applied to the list that St. Paul mentions - immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire.
So why this stern warning, “Take care to guard against all greed…?” Let me propose a few reasons in my three practical implications:
1. Let me draw the first practical implication from today’s first reading. Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! (Eccl 1:2). For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun? ( Eccl 2: 22). Think about how you felt when you discovered your first grey hair. What did you do as a youngster when you saw the first pimple? Think about your feeling when all your saving were neutralized by the recent recession. Think about the things we do to enhance our bodily features – padding up, excessive make-up. And when we think of the time, energy and resources we spend on these things! I think the first reading is teaching us an important lesson - there is no evidence that the wealthiest, good-looking, famous people have any advantage in eternity. Things unconnected to eternity are vanity. Qoheleth, on the other hand, wants us to keep our minds focused eternity. He is telling us that our real worth is in the eyes of God. And the greatest enemy of the eternal perspective is vanity and greed. In other words, we much watch out for vanity greed.
2. Second, Paul calls greed, idolatry. In other words, greed is a violation of the first commandment. In the Mosaic Law, there were very strict guidelines about what a person does with his/her harvest. Deut 26:1-3 stipulates that, the first fruits of the harvest were to be offered at the temple. The greedy rich man in the gospel, on the other hand, after a good harvest says to himself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink and be merry!” He has forgotten God. St. Paul calls greed idolatry because greed make us put other things or other people before God. Greed makes us selfish and self-centered people. In the Mosaic Law, there were also strict guidelines about how one should share his harvest with others. Having offered the first fruits at the temple, the farmer was to celebrate with all his family and the aliens in the land (Deut. 26:11). A careful reading of the words of the rich man in the gospel reading reveals the one and only relationship a greedy person is pre-occupied with – himself or herself. In that small passage, six times he uses the world pronoun ‘I’. (Read). The rich man forgets his family and the aliens. And that is what greed does – makes selfish, self-centered, self-pampering people out of us. And so Jesus says to the rich man, “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you.” In other words, it is foolish to put material objects before people. And this is why I said in my first point that greed robs us of eternity.
3. So what shall we do? I thought the best way to answer the question would be to find out, what is the opposite of greed. And really, what is the opposite of greed? Surprisingly, there is no one word that captures the opposite of greed. The answer is a combination of three terms: detachment, contentment, and generosity. Let us take the letter of St. Paul as a guide for us to deal with greed. There are two parts to his reading. The first part deals with our relationship with God and the second part deals with our relationship with people. If we want to deal with greed, the best way to do that is to make sure that my desire for material things or God’s creatures do not equal or exceed my desire for God and what God wants. Paul says, “If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above… Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.” The second that none of my desire exceed the desire to do good to people. Again, Paul says, “Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry. Stop lying to one another.” In other words we must not let our selfishness needs destroy relationships. Detachment, contentment, and generosity – these are the antidotes to greed.
This Eucharist is a result of a generous God, who put us even before the life of his Son. As we worship him let us pray for a spirit of contentment, detachment and generosity toward God and our neighbour. Amen.
Fr. Satish Joseph