Any time there is a natural or human disaster it makes me think; like the train crash in northern Spain last week where 80 people were killed. One minute they were just
enjoying the train journey, the next minute they are dead. Think of any one of those people who died. One
moment they are just getting on with their lives, then suddenly they
are before God knowing what their whole life was about. That could be there for any of us.
If I was
suddenly told, like in the Gospel, ‘This very night the demand will
be made for your soul,’ I wonder what would I focus on for the rest
of the day? Would I be worried about paying off bills, or
loans? I doubt it. I’d imagine my focus would turn to
the people I love and also to wondering how have I lived my life so
far.
At the moment
many people in our society—including Christians—are living as
though there is no after-life, as though our life on earth is everything. At funerals I often hear people talking about the dead person as though that were it. There existence is over. If that were so, then we might as well grab all we
can and make our life as comfortable as possible, because we only
have one chance. But our faith tells us something completely
different. Perhaps the most important thing it tells us is that
we will not find full happiness in this life, but in the next, if we
choose God. Complete happiness is not to be found in this
life. We will have moments of great happiness, and hopefully we
will find overall contentment, but that’s about as good as it gets.
When Our Lady
appeared to Bernadette in Lourdes 150 years ago, one of the things
she said to her was, ‘I cannot promise you happiness in this life,
but in the next.’ The point of that message and of the
teachings of Christ is to remind us not to ‘miss the bus’, so to
speak. It’s important that we don’t forget what our life is
really about. We are only on this earth for a short time.
In Jesus’
time the problem of greed for money was just as much of a problem as
it is now and it will probably always be this way. When this
man said to Jesus, ‘Tell my brother to give me a share of our
inheritance,’ straight away Jesus pointed out to the disciples the
danger of this desire. He said, ‘Watch out for this.’
‘A person’s life is not made secure by what he owns.’ The
problem is that our society tells us the opposite. We are all the time being told that if we have enough of everything we will be happy. But that is not what the Lord teaches us. That’s not where our happiness comes from.
There is a
priest called Benedict Groeschel who founded the Franciscan Friars of
the Renewal in the Bronx in New York. He is a great preacher and he tells
the story of a man he knew, an extremely wealthy man. At a
particular function this man spoke to Fr. Groeschel, and he said, ‘You
know I have more money than I could ever spend or use and I would
really like to be able to put it to good use.’ Fr. Groeschel
suggested that he could make a donation to one of the orphanages they
run, or something similar. But by the end of the evening the
man had not agreed to part with one cent. It’s as if he was
possessed by his wealth. He knew he had way more than he could
use, but he was still unable to part with it.
In confession
I have heard so many heart-breaking stories of families divided over
inheritance. It is so sad, because it is not important.
Of course it is not good when someone in a family is left out of
their fair share of what is coming to them, but sooner or later we
will leave it all behind anyway. ‘There is no tow-bar (hitch)
on the hearse,’ as they say! Is it really worth causing such
division in a family for this? I suppose it is a sign again
that we believe we will find happiness if we have enough of
everything materially. If we get the right car, house, job,
furniture, etc, then we will be happy. The reality is we
won’t. It is very nice to have these things, but these things won’t bring happiness because we are much
deeper than this. Our spirit can never be content with just material things and that is why there is always this deeper longing in us for ‘something’ although we’re often not quite sure what that something is.
God has made
us in such a way that we can only be fulfilled in him.
Our time here on earth is a time for love and service; to
choose for God or not; and this is a choice that each one of us has
to make individually. That is why each week we come to listen
to the Word of God and to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, so that we
remember what our life is about. The key is in making sure that
God is at the centre. Otherwise we will forget what we are here
for.
‘This
very night the demand will be made for your soul;
and
this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?’
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