Homily
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time C2
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
31 July 2022
AMDG
What's the point?
Last Christmas, my five siblings and I had a meeting with my dad. It was to go over the family assets, my dad's really, so that everyone was on the same page. It was a great meeting! There was no greed, only gratitude. I appreciate my dad trying to have his affairs in order, though he's in good health at 72 years old. My affairs are not in order! I could die tomorrow and leave a mess. Maybe you would too.
Still, what's the point of it all?
Quoheleth puts forth this question to us today. He reminds me of what I know but like to conveniently forget. Anyone I love I'll have to eventually let go of. Anything I have will one day belong to someone else. Is life just vanity, he says? Is it nothing more than evanescence?
A true Christian cuts this question off at the turn. Long before I consider this question, I am invited to aggressively give my life and all I have away. A Christian refuses to be a victim in the face of this seemingly desperate situation. If he is a victim, he's a most willing one. In short, the life of a Christian is nothing but a holy sacrifice, chock full of courage and generosity. It's really as simple as that. Multiply the gift of your life by risking faith and daring courage. Then give it all away, so that nothing can be taken from you that is not already given. A Christian always choses death long before death sneaks up on him.
Since I have died with Christ in baptism, my human experience is not something to cling to, but something that is free to be elevated into the very life of God which cannot fade. My life can be transformed from fear of loss into divine love, which endures and conquers all things.
What's the point?
The point is to not let this doubt and fear of Quoheleth get the best of you. Instead, through your freedom to live courageously and generously, turn the question on its very head.
That's the point.
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