July 31st - 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Ecc 1:2, 2:21-23; Col 3:1-5, 9-11; Lk 12:13-21)
In Ecclesiastes, Qoheleth is a translation of a Hebrew name “teacher.” His message is acquiring wealth is vanity of we acquire it just for ourselves since nothing we build or save up in this world will last forever. So Jesus is asking us whether, in our saving and our success, we are focusing on earthly success or investing in that which will have an eternal reward. Psalm 90, if today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Colossians urges us to seek not “what is of the earth,” but rather the things above where Christ reigns. An unnegotiable Christian belief is that Christ lives in people of every nation and group. Consequently, whatever we say about and do to others, we say about and do to him. In Luke, Jesus warns the crowd to guard against the constant urge to acquire more stuff because this habit distracts one from acquiring true riches. In Judaism, all that one has is a gift from and God and is earmarked for divine purposes.