First Reading Commentary
Qoheleth is the Hebrew name for
Ecclesiastes. The name has many
meanings: One who conveys an assembly, member of an assembly, official speaker
in an assembly, head of an assembly of wise men, preacher, debater, and the
great collector of sayings. The author
is unknown although up until the nineteenth century it was believed to have
been written by Solomon because Qoheleth is referred to in this book as King David's
son. There are social conditions
mentioned in this book which are contrary to what is known about the Israelites
in Solomon's day, therefore, Solomon's authorship is unlikely. The date of this book is fixed somewhere
around the close of the third century B.C.
The word "Vanity" is translated
as "a breath" or "a vapor" and "Vanity of vanities"
is the Hebrew way of saying "the merest breath". In order to comprehend the meaning of this Reading,
it's important to note that at the time of this writing, the idea of an
afterlife was not widely accepted or taught in the Hebrew creed. The theology of the time was that the
infinitely good God rewarded obedience to His laws with temporal goods and
punished disobedience by denying or taking away temporal riches. This theology is perplexing to Ecclesiastes
or Qoheleth and is the general theme of the entire book.
The rewarding of temporal
gifts which reflect the teachings of that particular time in history led
Qoheleth to believe that wealth, riches and the pleasures of this life were an
inadequate reward for obedience to the Mosaic Law. In the grand scheme of things the author felt
that humanity's labor, the accumulation of wealth and living for the pleasures
of this life, only to have it all come to a screeching halt because of death
was unfulfilling and disappointing.
Second Reading Commentary
Saint Paul is referring to that mystical
death and rising to a new life which occurs at Baptism when he writes, "If
you were raised with Christ".
At Mass during the Eucharistic Prayer the
priest says: "Sursum corda - Lift
up your hearts". Saint Paul assures
us that we are called to that constant lifting up of our hearts to our Lord,
keeping our thoughts on what is above and not what is on earth until that day
when we the members are joined with our Head in eternal glory.
Review once again the parts that Paul
refers to as earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and
greed. We are not strangers to any of
these things. We are either guilty of
these things ourselves or at least are unfortunate witnesses of such things in
our culture. In our present existence,
we're all labeled in one way or another: Black, white, Hispanic, Republican,
Democrat, Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, conservative, liberal, moderate,
blue-collar, white-collar, and the list goes on and on. While these labels may help to identify who
we are, humanity's brokenness also makes them a source of division and
prejudice. Saint Paul exhorts us to put
these things to death and focus on the new self, which is being renewed and
transformed.
In the end, when all
is said and done, all of us will have only one label that really matters: "A
child of God". And surely it is more
beneficial for us to make that the only label that really matters now.
Gospel Commentary
There are possibly two meanings to being "rich
in what matters to God". Most
certainly it can be applied to storing up treasure in heaven, living one's life
focused on eternal riches. It could also
be referring to how the riches or material goods of this life are handled. In other words, are the abundances of this
life hoarded because of greed or are they distributed to help those who are
less fortunate? Saint Ambrose says that
the hands of the poor, the houses of widows, are storehouses that endure
forever.
In this Gospel, Jesus uses a parable which
is a reminder that all the material wealth possessed in this life cannot add a
single minute to our lives. Jesus has
the answer to Qoheleth's concerns in the First Reading: Yes there is indeed
much more to life than the material rewards obtained; and there is without a
doubt an afterlife.
The message in the Gospel since beginning
this "Journey Narrative" several weeks ago is to stay focused on
heaven. If heaven is to be our focus,
then surely this life has inflicted all of us from time-to-time with attention
deficit disorder. It's that old battle
of flesh versus spirit. The flesh has a
distinct advantage because it can behold its desires with the physical
senses. What the spirit desires is
intangible and can seem elusive.
Exercising the spirit requires a certain denying of the senses. For heaven to be our focus and desire, the
physical senses cannot be permitted to dictate policy. When we deny ourselves the influence of the
senses, the eyes of faith see with confidence, for example, that what we behold
is not bread - it is Jesus. What we
behold is not wine - it is Jesus. This
is why prayer is so important. At prayer,
the affairs of the spirit are in charge while the flesh takes on a role of a
disruptor by means of distractions. But
through perseverance, the spirit grows in love for the Lord; and this growth
renders the flesh less obtrusive.
Consider what happens
whenever you go to the cinema to watch a movie.
You have to sit through all the previews of other films before you get
to the feature film. Whether the
previews are good or bad, in reality your thoughts and desires are focused on
the feature film. Heaven and eternal
life is our feature film. While it is
necessary to experience the previews of this life, it is much easier to bear
its pains while also not being dependent upon its rewards when one's ultimate
desire is the beatific vision.
