Father Rick Bolte's Homily

C: Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time                  2007-08-05

Today’s readings are hard to hear and seem to oppose the American Dream.”  Qoheleth tells us all is vanity.  What profit is there for a man who works his whole life, uses all his wisdom and skills, and even looses sleep worrying about all that he has accomplished; but then he dies?  All that he has now goes to another who is unlikely to appreciate what he has put into it.  The man has nothing.  Jesus tells a parable of a man who has a very profitable year.  He’s thrilled that he’s done so well.  He makes arrangements to save it and so be able to enjoy a comfortable “retirement.”  But god says of him that his life also will come to an end.  All his plans are for naught.  It seems to us (looking on as the world sees things) that this is unfair.  We can’t change it so we usually try to ignore it as we try to do well in the worldly eyes.

Sometimes faith and religion are accused of not working in the “real world.”  But the truth is that the world ignores this bit of reality, namely that the things of this world are temporary.  We focus so much on youth and being young.  No one wants to look old.  We fear others will value us less if we look our age.  It’s important to be into the newest technology and have the newest gadget.  Our so-called “real world” is a false way of living where we ignore the reality of our temporary life.

We say in today’s Psalm, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.”  Wisdom comes from encountering life as it really is.  It means a willingness to ask questions, to struggle in our faith, and to seek an understanding of life from our God.  It’s a challenge to live differently than our world but we have to realize there is no other real way to live.  Our faith invites us to reflect on what lasts beyond the limits of this world?  What is worth our time and energy?  Of all the options the world offers, what should we value above all else?

This is why wisdom is associated with age.  When we are young, we are often consumed by “making it” in the world.  As we age, we are forced to recognize our limits and earthly death.  When we face this reality rather than pretending it does not exist, we grow in wisdom.  By our baptism we were called to be prophets.  We are called to bring God’s word to the world.  We are called to face rejection if necessary.  This message is hard for us and is likely to be resisted by many.  But we are called to witness our faith and to by our lives reveal the wisdom God offers.  Let us accept the challenge to live in the real world.  Let us call on our God for the strength to face what is true in our world and to be prophets in our world that needs to be real.