Sorrow And Vanity Versus Life In Christ

Eighteenth Sunday in Course 2025

It’s always a challenge to interpret a public proclamation that begins with the word “If,” as today’s reading from St. Paul does. He tells the church at Colossae (and us) “If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” The word “if” is paired with “raised,” so we need to ask when we might have been raised. To answer that, think of the last time you witnessed a baptism at the Easter Vigil. (If you have never done that, write that down on your to-do list for next Spring.) The catechumen goes down into the baptistry and the priest or bishop pours water on his head with the words of baptism, and then someone leads the newly baptized person up out of the baptistry. Something like that has happened to every Christian. Baptism is death to sin and rising to new life in Christ. We should every day after that think of what is above, not up in the sky but on the supernatural plane where God is, and where we all hope to be after we fall asleep for the last time on earth.

The psalm, which is the only one in Scripture written by Moses, ought to help with doing that. We should “number our days aright.” That means a lot more than watching the calendar and counting the days until school starts, or ends, or Christmas comes. It means knowing that there are only two critical days in life. That’s the day we die, and come to the judgement seat of Christ, and the other day. No, not your birth date, but today. Today is the critical day, the one we have control over. We don’t control the day we fall asleep for the last time. We do control this day. If we live today as Christ, and in Christ, then we will today only do good and avoid evil. We repent of sin and confess it to be forgiven, and then resolve not to sin any more, but only do good for others. Get rid of any of the bad habits like lying and impurity on St. Paul’s list to the Colossians. Become a saint.

It's encouraging when we read today’s Gospel to hear someone asking Jesus to mediate a dispute with his brother. That means people were beginning to recognize Jesus as the New Moses, the prophet promised by God in Torah. But Jesus wouldn’t “bite.” Instead, He told His listeners to avoid greed, and then He told the parable about the rich farmer. He was rich but He wasn’t wise. He gets a good harvest and then does what isn’t even good secular economics. He stores the grain and even spends money on new silos, perhaps hoping to drive up the price by restricting supply. He hasn’t a thought for anyone else, particularly the poor whom he could have helped with food or donations. So he ignores the duty of today, and forgets that God controls the last day. He becomes like the guy Qoheleth writes about in our first reading. He pursues the title of “richest guy we know” and acquires only the title of “man who ran after vanities and dropped dead.” The idiot probably didn’t even have a will.

We know what brings happiness, though. We know how we can live and sleep with our mind at rest. Our only task in life is to prepare for the life after this life. We must do good, avoid evil, and spread the news of Jesus Christ and His Church. Then we can look forward to our last day in hope and joy.