18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2016

Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23; Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11; Luke 12:13-21

I am more than Flesh and Blood: I have a Soul too

“Vanity of vanity is vanity” explains itself as the questioning of the meaning of life; the enquiry into the motivations for all we do, when we go about our daily tasks and the reasons we do what we do. Hear what the preacher says: “For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun?” This message is still very relevant today, with the senseless killings and displacement, either internal or external, economic strangulations, not to say capitalistic exploitation of the poor and those on the margins of the society. Our times is not free of shades of darkness and pessimism about the meaning of life and work. Indeed, what is life, is life worth living?

Granted that real life is full of challenges; admittedly, our first reading raises both philosophical and existential questions; but why read such a reading in a Christian Church on Sunday? In fact, how did the book of Qohelet or Ecclesiastes get into the Bible, with its apparent atheistic views, because God is not even mentioned in the whole of the first reading of today! There, exactly, is the catch, the approach to solving the riddle, not only of our first reading, but solving the problem of life and living: life is meaningless, when it is devoid of God! We say, in Nigeria, “God is the answer!”

If today’s first reading leaves us with questions and doubts about the meaning of life, today’s gospel provides us with an answer: God alone gives meaning to life! The man who came to Jesus to arbitrate between himself and his brother over their inheritance, limited his vision of life to worldly possessions and the comfort and security they can offer. Jesus’ parable illustrates the illusiveness of wealth and earthly possessions because there is something more than earthly possession – God. Our gospel makes God to be the answer to the deepest question of meaning, the meaning of human life on earth. In other words, life is not limited to what is physical and mundane; there is more, God and the human soul.

For those of us who call ourselves Christians, our second reading provides us with two recommendations on how to live on earth: first, “Think of what is above, not of what is on earth;” second, “Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly.” Consequently, a Christian’s life on earth is a permanent preparation for heaven. To “think of what is above” is to be conscious of heaven as our home. However, thinking about heaven is not enough, we must act as well. It is the moral lives of Christians on earth that prove their readiness for heaven. A morally bankrupt Christian manifests his/her abdication of his/her citizenship and hope of heaven. But is heaven real?

Denial of the invisible is very real, especially when we stop dreaming and loving because dreams and love make the invisible visible. We think that reality is only what is tangible and concrete and tactile; a denial that there is something besides the physical and visible; “Vanity of vanity is vanity” is the storyline that says that the physical will vanish, so why worry. Indeed, to strengthen his argument about the meaninglessness of life or the “vanity of vanity,” our first reading invites us to use time as measurement: how many of past generations are still alive today, and what has become of their past labors! So, “time” tells the story of mutation and change: nothing is permanent. Really?

Interestingly, the counter argument to time, is time itself. If there is nothing permanent, where do things come from? They cannot come from nothing, because ex nihilo nihil fit – “nothing comes out of nothing,” philosophers say. Therefore, time itself, if it is a reality, has to come from somewhere, and not from nowhere! The source of everything, visible and invisible, is God: God is permanent and so do those who belong to God. It follows, according to today’s gospel, human life goes beyond the physical to embrace and emphasize the metaphysical or the soul. Jesus says today, to all materialists or those who rely on earthly possessions instead of God, “But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you” (Luke 12:20). Jesus declares the soul superior to the body! If your soul is superior to your body, how do you prepare your soul for heaven, is the question?

Jesus implies that the God who gives and takes life, also gives and takes possessions away. But possessions are given in order for life on earth to be livable, rather than an inducement to be forgetful of God. In fact, the incarnation of Jesus Christ is the greatest proof that what is invisible is prior to the visible because our invisible God becomes visible in Jesus Christ. Moreover, it is this invisible made visible God who teaches us about the importance and priority of the invisible God and the invisible soul of human beings. If we accept human teachings, what more God’s teaching?

Furthermore, it is only when we have faith and trust in God that the message and teachings of God in Christ can make sense to us. Our second reading makes this abundantly clear, when Paul bases our transformation on our baptism, the sacrament that makes us God’s children, those who believe in the existence and priority of the soul over the body; God’s agency of creation instead of “vanity of vanity”! Yes, we cannot raise and keep our gaze fixed on heaven, if we failed to realize that our citizenship is in heaven; that earth is not our permanent home, but a means to reach heaven; that our individual baptisms rerouted out thoughts and actions towards securing our destinies in heaven; our moral rectitude is our proof of citizenship and hope of heaven.

One thing is sure and convincing: love and hatred are not simple abstract concepts, they are real, thanks to acts of love and hate! “Love” becomes visible through acts of love. We reach the very core of the other through charity and sacrifice. Lives are saved, protected and defended by deeds of love. The opposite is very true, through acts of hatred and destruction. Here is our argument: the invisible is made visible in our lives daily, simply by looking at human activities and interactions. Realized dreams turn dreams into realities, just the way acts of love concretize and make love visible. If this is true about human life on earth, is there any reason to doubt that God and heaven are real? Are the deeds of love and sacrifices from our friends, families, and loved ones fantasies or reality?

Indeed, “vanity of vanity is all vanity” makes sense only to someone without God. For those of us who are Christians, heaven is our home, and our God is very much alive and active. Yes, we encounter God everyday through deeds of love and sacrifice. True, the invisible is something and not a mirage because our advancements in science and technology teach us that life and creation are sustained by pure energy, though invisible but perceptible and real. If science believes in the reality of the invisible, how about you, a child of God?

Assignment for the week:
Come up with an act of charity this week that convinces someone that God is alive and not dead!