“For you have died.”1 This statement from Colossians constitutes the heart of today’s readings. But before writing this, the inspired author began by writing “If then you were raised with Christ.”2 You died and rose with Christ when you were baptized.
Dying and rising with Christ should make all the difference in the world in how you live. Qoheleth, which means something like “preacher,” is right in his insistence that life can all too easily become vanity. A vain person is someone who is always preoccupied with him/herself.
Someone who is vain worries about how he looks, how she dresses, the kind of car they drive, the house in which they live, the kind of shoes they wear, what cell phone they have, etc. It’s a life of appearance, not substance. In case you haven’t noticed, vain people are very thin-skinned, possessing fragile egos. They are easily shaken, especially when someone or something pokes a hole in the wall of her/his appearance and reality leaks out.
In his poem The Hollow Men, T.S. Eliot wrote that the hollow men are “Shape without form, shade without color; Paralysed force, gesture without motion.”3 To be concerned only about yourself, to make acquiring things and getting ahead the focus of your life is to be a hollow person indeed.
I recently watched a short video featuring former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.4 In the video he is talking to two or three younger guys. He tells them that the three years he spent in prison were the best years of his life. The young guys seemed surprised by this. One of them was bold enough to challenge him, saying- “That’s interesting for you to say that, bro., because you had millions.”
Iron Mike responds by saying that in prison he had peace. His young interlocutor says, “Yeah, but thirty million dollars for one fight…” Tyson gently answers by saying, “Hey listen, can I tell you something? That don’t mean nuthin’ when you don’t have your peace, your stability, and your balance.” He ended by telling them, “Cuz,’ you know, God… punishes you by giving you everything you want. See if you can handle it.”
How different is that from the idea that wealth and riches are God’s blessing? Jesus makes clear throughout all four Gospels that wealth and riches, while not inherently bad (it depends on how you use them), are often the biggest obstacles for someone in terms of her/his salvation. He certainly does this in today’s Gospel. The subject of his parable was content to hoard his wealth. His death on the very night he was making plans to store up his wealth shows, irrefutably, from the very mouth of God, what a terrible plan that is!
One person who will never be impressed with how successful you are, how much money you make, how big your house is, what kind of clothes you wear, what gadgets you possess, or what kind of car you drive is Jesus Christ. In our second reading from Colossians, among the things those who have died and risen with Christ need to “put to death” is “the greed that is idolatry.”5
Christ will ask, What did you do for the least of these? Especially if you enjoyed an abundance, if you draw a blank or are unable to come up with much, you’ll quickly realize that the pursuit and love of wealth, commonly known as “greed,” which is one of the seven deadly sins, far from being a blessing, is a curse for you. Be like Mike. Learn that lesson now. Be rich in the things that matter to God.
In 1 Timothy, we learn “the love of money is the root of all evils.”6 The passage in which this verse occurs ends by noting that the lure of riches has led many, even in the very early Church, to abandon the faith. It’s no great surprise that economists can empirically show that where wealth increases beyond a certain point, religious faith and practice decline. Like the man in Jesus’ parable, we’re prone to thinking “I got this. No need for God.”
What matters to God is feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving drink to the thirsty, and visiting those who are sick and in prison. As Catholics, we group these teachings of Jesus together and call them the corporal works of mercy. What matters to God, as the prophets reminded Israel over and over, is looking out for the widow and the orphan, taking care of the stranger in their midst.
Sometimes helping others makes you feel good. This usually happens when the person you’re helping expresses gratitude for your assistance. But what about when no gratitude is expressed? Does the person need your help less ? Does s/he not deserve your help? In other words, sometimes helping others doesn’t make you feel good.
Let’s be honest, it’s almost always an inconvenience to help someone in need. It is often the case that the very act of taking time and making the effort to help makes you aware of just how needy that person is. Extrapolating from that, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by how much genuine need there is, not in the world, but just in your own community.
The word "poor" does not appear in today's readings. It does appear in the Gospel acclamation, which is from the Beatitudes in Matthew.7 There can be little doubt that what makes one rich in what matters to God is assisting those who are materially poor. This is especially incumbent on those who are rich (i.e., those who possess way more than they need).
The Greek word translated as “poor” in our acclamation is ptōchos. While ptōchos can and probably to some extent does refer to people without position, honor, or influence, that is, those without power, it does so only secondarily. The primary meaning of ptōchos is those who are destitute and reduced to begging.
When the weight of human need seems crushing, it’s useful to keep in mind Mother Teresa’s motto: “Do small things with great love.”8 Do this consistently, maybe daily or weekly. It will make you rich in the things that matter to God. Remember, you haven’t just died with Christ; you’ve risen with him. Because of this, you trust God, even when you realize how much the immensity of need overshadows your small efforts. Because you're born again, you trust in God even when the world seems like a hot mess.
1 Colossians 3:3.↩
2 Colossians 3:1.↩
3 T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men.↩
4 Instagram.↩
5 Colossians 3:5.↩
6 1 Timothy 6:10.↩
7 Matthew 5:3.↩
8 America magazine, “Mother Teresa: ‘Do small things with great love.’” ↩
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