2022-Jul-31: Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

 

Opening prayer

Heavenly Father, send forth your Spirit to enlighten our minds
and dispose our hearts to accept your truth.
Help us to listen to one another with openness and honesty,
eager to learn from the talents and intuitions that you have given each of us. Never let differences of opinion diminish our mutual esteem and love.
May we leave this meeting with more knowledge and love for you and your Son.
In the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Theme of the liturgy 

The path to fulfilment is through God

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23

Ecclesiastes, the collected wisdom of an ancient sage Qoheleth, “the son of David, king in Jerusalem”, who is a man who has seen it all, done it all, tried it all, according to this text, called the “Teacher". He probes the meaning of social values (wealth, possessions, power, fame, scholarship) which run counter to values of God (love your neighbour as an act of faith in God; a particular joy is to be found in helping one another) - inviting us to rethink our priorities. 
The Hebrew word hebel translated as “vanity” also means vapour or breath - everything is transient and impermanent -
Everything is ephemeral, and work cannot provide meaning. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, workers quit their jobs in record numbers in the so-called 'great resignation' when people realized their jobs did not bring fulfillment, even as they worked for longer hours under increasing pressure.
The irony of life: the same fate, death, befalls both the wise person and the fool (2:14c, 16), so what, he wonders, is the point of his great wisdom?

Psalm 90

Psalm 90 is the only poem in the Psalter that is associated with Moses; the Hebrew in the superscription literally reads “a prayer to Moses, man of God.” Most likely the connection with Moses was made not because he is the author but because of a connection between the psalm’s theme of asking for wisdom in light of human finitude and the story of Moses, who was not allowed to enter into the promised land.
The witness of the psalm is that for mortals to find true hope for today and true strength for tomorrow, they must turn only to the eternal Lord.

Colossians 3:1-11

One of the striking things about Colossians 3:1-11 is the way in which it describes the paradox of life in Christ. This life is something which we already have—if you have been raised with Christ, and you have, for you have died, and your life is hidden with God (3:1, 3); and it is something which we must strive to live into—put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly…these are the ways you once followed…you have stripped off the old self with its practices…(3:5, 7, 9).
St Paul proposes to his followers that distinctions based on things like ethnicity, religious practice, level of cultural sophistication, or class - no longer define a person. Instead, we तत now have a common identity that is at once unique and individual — through “the Messiah in you” — and yet profoundly connected, and equal, with everyone else — since “the Messiah is all in all!” 
In the next verse, St Paul answers the question: So how does a community live in this new identity? By clothing ourselves, within the very bowels of our being, with compassion, mercy, goodness, true humility, gentleness, and patience (Colossians 3:12). By tolerating one another’s idiosyncrasies. If anyone has a complaint against another, be forgiving, just as the Lord has forgiven you (Colossians 3:13).

Luke 12:13-21

It was common in first-century Palestine for Jews to ask rabbis for a legal ruling. The man thought of Jesus as a respected rabbi who influenced people, and could convince his brother to give him his inheritance. The man seems to be the younger brother because, according to the Law of Deuteronomy 21:16-17, the firstborn son receives a double portion of his father’s main estate. The eldest brother is also responsible for keeping the estate intact or dividing it among his brothers. The eldest brother wants to keep the land intact, while the younger wants his share. Jesus refuses to act as arbitrator or divider of inheritance because he knows the younger man’s inner thoughts covet more than his allocated share trying to obtain more wealth in order to advance his status at the expense of his older brother. Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool to teach against greed. He emphasizes that secured life does not depend on possessions, but on entrusting one’s life to God, showing the futility of choices made in isolation from the love of God and neighbour.
The scenario that Jesus depicts is a vast wealthy landholder who had an abundant harvest and decided to tear down his current storage facilities to make room for larger ones. By hoarding his harvest and not contributing to the market with his surplus, he creates a scarcity ignoring the needs of the poor people in society. The wealthy farmer is a fool because he assumes that his security depends on his possessions and wealth, not God, the source of all gifts and security. Notice the farmer’s consistent focus throughout the conversation was with himself (first person I)
But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20) God’s question means that he cannot take his hoarded grain to the grave, nor does he know whose they will be. Jesus further instructs his disciples about greed, trusting God to provide for their needs, and not to worry about life (verses 22-35).