18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Yesterday, we celebrated the feast of Saint Peter Julian Eymard. In the first reading from Ecclesiastes, we read: Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! When I discovered that the Hebrew translation of this word (vanity) is futility in the Jewish Study Bible, Saint Peter Julian Eymard came to mind.
For years, he struggled to establish Eucharistic “Cenacles” throughout France. His dream was to set these shrines at the “four corners of the world”; he even took steps to acquire the “Cenacle” in Jerusalem. In prayer during his long retreat in Rome, Saint Peter Julian came to realize, through the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that all his efforts had been futile because he came to understand that what God wanted was the interior cenacle, not primarily shrines and sanctuaries.
It seems to me that it was only after he became aware that all his efforts to set up Eucharistic “exterior” shrines and sanctuaries had been futile did Peter Julian realize that for him personally all this effort had been nothing but vanity.
“Harden not your hearts” is the echo we keep hearing in Psalm 90. This psalm reminds us that the soft voice we occasionally hear in our hearts is indeed God’s. We discover an example of this in today’s first reading and Gospel, wherein we are reminded that more often than not, what gets in our way is GREED. The parable we are offered challenges our personal and economic awareness as if Jesus were reflecting our present economic systems. This is not complicated: The more we have, the more we want, and we want it all protected. Too often, this is human nature! Like the gospel says, we want larger barns, houses, cars, boats, accounts, etc. We do not necessarily pass our greater wealth down to help others, but merely to acquire more and bigger things. Amen!
Prayer:
Accompany with constant protection, O Lord, those you renew with these heavenly gifts and, in your never-failing care for them, make them worthy of eternal redemption. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer after Communion)
