Homily:
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
“I prefer
experiences over things.” If you’re of
the millennial generation, you’ve probably said this phrase before. If you are of an older generation, you might
be looking with a bit of puzzlement trying to understand what I just said. “Experiences over things” is a trend among
the younger generation in which individuals focus less on acquiring things than
on acquiring experiences. In more
practical terms, this means that folks of the younger generation are more likely
to save up to purchase an “igloo building experience in northern Alaska” than
to put a down payment on a bungalow in the suburbs.
For those of
older generations, this trend flies in the face of what they grew to know and
value. For them, life following two
World Wars and the Great Depression was a life of seeking normalcy and
stability; and nothing says “normalcy and stability” than a 9-5 job, a decent
house on a plot of land, 2.35 kids, and a dog.
For them, “experiences” involved going to the lake house to break out of
the “normalcy” a bit: exchanging one set of things for another set of things...
except that this set of things had a lake next to it in which you could enjoy
some recreation.
On the surface,
our readings today seem like they favor the younger generation. The wisdom writer, Qoheleth, decries “All
things are vanity!” because all of the things that one can acquire through
his/her wisdom and hard work ultimately gets left to someone who did not work
for it. “What’s the point of acquiring
all of these things,” Qoheleth seems to say, “if ultimately they will all pass
through to someone else’s hands?” You
can almost hear him say, “Why not spend the fruits of your labor on
experiences, which you will always keep with you?” And then Jesus, with his parable recounted
for us in our Gospel reading, is even more blunt. “You fool,” he says of the one who stored up
his bountiful harvest for him to enjoy over many years, “You fool, this night
your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom
will they belong?” Again, you can almost
hear him saying, “Why didn’t you spend the fruits of your labor on experiences,
which you will always keep with you, instead of on storing up things, which you
will lose in the blink of an eye?” I
think, however, that this would be a misreading of these texts. In fact, I think that these texts have
something to say to all of us, in spite of that which we prefer: experiences or
things.
If we think just
a little more, we can see that even the pursuit of experiences over things is
also “vanity”. These, too, will one day
fade into nothing; and the only thing that can be handed onto anyone else are
fleeting Instagram photos, providing a filtered documentary of the experience. No, it seems that, because none of us truly
knows when our lives will be “demanded” of us, a life spent solely on seeking
to acquire things or experiences “is vanity and a great misfortune”.
Does this mean,
however, that we should never seek to acquire things or experiences? The answer, of course, is “no”. It, quite obviously, is incredibly difficult
to do something like raise a family without a stable roof over your head. Thus, pursuit of a house that you can call
your own is a necessary (if not noble) thing.
Similarly, it is quite difficult to grow as a person if you remain
isolated in your own culture and experience.
Thus, seeking experiences of different cultures which can help you to
become more “well-rounded” as a person is, too, a necessary (if not noble)
thing. The problem arises, however, when
we begin to pursue these as ends in themselves.
Having just begun
a family, it is a noble and necessary thing to save up for a down payment on a
bungalow in the suburbs. Having acquired
it, however, it becomes vanity then to seek a bigger house than is necessary:
solely for the purpose of acquiring it.
Similarly, it is one thing to take a vacation with friends to learn
about Eskimo culture—its customs and values—and another thing take a vacation
for the sole purpose of building an igloo.
In the former form of both cases, the thing/experiences were a means to
an end (providing for one’s family/growing as human beings), while in the
latter form of both cases, the things/experience became ends in themselves (the
house for the sake of having it and the experience for the sake of experiencing
it).
Our Lord’s
cautionary tale today is a reminder to us to remain focused on the things for
which we will one day have to answer when our lives are demanded of us. Clearly, we will not be judged more
positively for the quantity of things or experiences that we acquired in this
world. Rather, we will be judged for how
we used those things/experiences to further the building of God’s kingdom. Remember that, in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is
recorded as saying, “When you did these things for the least of my brethren,
you did it to me.” And Saint Paul, in
his first letter to the Corinthians, says “faith, hope, and love remain, these
three.” Therefore, when we live our
lives as if only faith, hope, and love remain and so use the things and
experiences we acquire to serve the least of these and grow as persons and in
communion with God and one another, then our acquisition of things and
experiences become means towards the end for which we will answer and, thus,
noble and worthy of our pursuit. If we
live otherwise, however, our pursuit of things/experiences risks becoming an
end in itself and, thus, “vanity and a great misfortune”.
Our parish’s
Haiti ministry is a great example of pursuing things/experiences as means to an
end: the end of solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are suffering and
efforts to relieve it; as well as experiencing the joy and freedom that their
simplicity of life affords us. In other
words, we are not in this so as to take for our own benefit, but rather to give
of ourselves and to receive what they offer.
This is NOT vanity, but a noble and worthy endeavor. How good it is, therefore, that we celebrate
this with Fr. Silvio this weekend.
Friends, as we
begin to wrap up our summer vacations—themselves often opportunities for
acquiring things/experiences as ends in themselves—let us allow these readings
to interpret them for us: Were they, in fact, opportunities to grow as persons,
to build God’s kingdom, or to enter more deeply into communion with God and
with others? Or were they, in fact, vanity: ends that we pursued for their own
sakes? If the former: good! Give thanks to God for the grace of this
growth. If the latter: well, humbly
acknowledge that you missed the mark and seek to turn your pursuit of
things/experiences into means towards the ends for which you will one day
answer: the building of God’s kingdom of love in truth here on earth.
Given at Saint Mary’s Cathedral: Lafayette, IN –
August 4th, 2019
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