ALL IS VANITY

Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23, Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11, Luke 12:13-21

The sentence “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!” is famous for its power to remind us that in comparison with the things of God, human endeavors are fleeting and insubstantial. The word for “vanity” in Hebrew means “vapor,” and thus the author of Ecclesiastes gives us a vivid picture of human activity as amounting to nothing so much as water vapor that rises into the air and is quickly dispersed.

The passage of the gospel in our liturgy presents to us Jesus who goes on to apply this view of Ecclesiastes even to the legitimate wealth gained by hard work. Jesus uses the parable of the rich fool to illustrate that exactly, all is vanity; the request for justice between two brothers to share the inheritance in vanity, even possessions earned by hard work are vanity. Jesus is not against him having more wealth, nor is he against justice being done between the two brothers. Jesus is rather disappointed that after listening to all his preaching, the first concern of this man still remains his share of the inheritance. Possessions are necessary for life. But possessions can assume such an importance in one’s life that they become obsessions. The search for possessions can easily degenerate into a mindless quest for more and more and still more and can drive us away from the essential. This is what Jesus is warning us about: “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions”

To illustrate his point Jesus tells the Parable of the Rich Fool. When you read the parable you ask yourself, “What wrong did this man do?” Think about it. The man did his honest work on his farmland. The land gave a bumper harvest. The man decided to build a larger storage for the crop so that he could live the rest of his life on Easy Street. Only he did not know that the rest of his life was less than twenty-four hours. Jesus uses him as an illustration of greed even though he took no one’s thing. He did not do something wrong. His greed lies in what he did not do.

Jesus’ point is that greed can be the worship of another god. The name of that god is Mammon or Money or Materialism. Today’s gospel invites us to believe in the God of Jesus Christ who alone can give eternal life and not in the god of this world who gives us the false promise of immortality through accumulation of possessions. The responsorial psalm (Ps 90) has the presentation of our God as the one who gives us salvation. That is to say, the really important reality which is beyond any human power to reach is given freely by God to those who are willing to accept it by listening to God’s word.

The key point for understanding today’s message lies in the second reading, where St. Paul urges us to keep our eyes on Christ, who enjoys authority with God in heaven.  The life won by Christ is the only truly imperishable treasure available to us. The accumulation of material goods, the inheritance, fame, and power, do not form part of the hierarchy of the values of Jesus. Life does not depend on goods even if they are abundant. Life depends on Christ.