18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 1, 2010

Eccles 1, 2; 2, 21-23
Col 3, 1-5.9-11
Lk 12, 13-21

In 1934, the famous English novelist, Evelyn Waugh, published what many feel is his best novel, A Handful of Dust. Waugh, a devout Catholic, satirizes European society through many of the characters, but especially by means of the story’s hero, Tony Last. He is so devoted to maintaining his estate, a former castle, and so enthralled with the notion of living as an aristocrat that he ignores his wife, Brenda, while neglecting to raise their only son, John, properly. When this leads to the death of their son, Brenda leaves Tony and begins an affair with another man. Devastated and wishing to get away for a while, Tony makes a long trip to the Amazon, becomes lost in the jungle, and is eventually rescued. His rescuer, however, is an illiterate madman. Tony becomes a virtual prisoner (much as he was before because of his infatuation with his castle), and is compelled to read Dickens to his rescuer over and over. No hope of rescue is in sight.

Tony’s main fault, as Waugh points out, is his worship of his castle. He foolishly makes an idol of it, while neglecting his family, in fact, while neglecting the good of his own soul. Having learned nothing from his experiences, he is eventually punished by his imprisonment deep in the Amazon jungle.

The rich man in today’s  gospel shares a great deal with Tony. Focused entirely on enjoying his present life, and enraptured with his dream of making his life on earth a kind of paradise, he completely overlooks his final end.

While it is easy to see the parable as an indictment of those who hoard their wealth, it is much harder to apply the story to one’s own life. In this sense, we wonder what has become of the once-famous adage, “option for the poor”? Are we truly concerned about the needs of the poor? Are we doing something practical to help them? Furthermore, can we justify the fact that the goods many of us enjoy far surpass what the poor have?

We do well to reflect on the final worlds of the Jesus in the parable: “To whom will all this piled-up wealth of yours go? That is the way it works with the man who grows rich for himself instead of growing rich in the sight of God.” May we be wise and share what we have in order to become rich in the sight of God.

Fr. John Seland SVD
Japan
The Word in Other Words