31/07/2025
HOMILY BY DCN PETER McDADE
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
03 August 2025
Readings:
Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23;
Psalms 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 1;
Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11;
Luke 12:13-21.
The Essence of faith is trust – The essence of trust is truth. What is Truth?
Ironically, one of my favourite songs is from July 1965 - just 60 years ago - when Ray Brown and the Whispers, a Sydney-based pop group, recorded one of their several no. 1 hits “Fool, Fool, Fool”. In it, a besotted lover is urged by the girl of his desires to buy her a mockingbird, then a diamond ring, then a car, then a better car and so on. He eventually steals to keep fulfilling her demands and ends up in jail – where even the prisoners join in the chorus of “Fool, Fool, Fool”.
He was indeed a fool for failing to recognise not only the insanity of her demands, but the extreme lengths he had to go to, to satisfy them. He put his faith in satisfying her material demands, trusting that would realise the truth of their love.
You could say that he fell afoul of the “Vanity of Vanities” trap of today’s first reading from Ecclesiastes. When we talk of “vanity”, we usually refer to self-pride – are we good looking enough? is my make-up/hairstyle ok? Does this set of clothes suit me? Or, as in the song, what extraordinary demands do I need to satisfy in order to win someone’s approval?
But in Ecclesiastes it means a bit more than that. It doesn’t just mean hollow vanity or that life is totally meaningless, as is often the interpretation given. The Hebrew word used is “hebel” and it is more accurately translated as “breath” or “vapour” or “smoke” – something that will pass in this world like a breath or some vapour and no matter how hard you try, you can't hold on to it. A bit like the old saying “He’s all smoke and mirrors!” To chase it is futile - you certainly can’t hold it and you’re a fool if you believe it!
The idea that life in this world is passing or impossible to hold onto is a theme that permeates Scripture. It first appears in Genesis with the story of Cain and Abel – Abel is called “hevel” such because of the passing nature of his short life, he is the first person to die. It is a variant/derivative of "hebel". But “hebel” appears about 75 in the Bible, 38 of which occur in Ecclesiastes. So to translate it as “vanity” or “meaningless” dare I say it, unfairly puts a whole negative connotation on its message for the meaning of life – particularly life as a believer.
If we see life and life’s events as breath – the life-giving breath of God and our own life-giving breath here on earth as THE most important perspective in life, then holding onto physical possessions etc is akin to holding a breath, or some vapour, or some smoke in our hands. So over time I think Ecclesiastes has been given a bad rap through the unfortunate translation of "hebel" to mean "meaningless" or "vain". It is often if not usually claimed to be very pessimistic and not worthy of its place in the Canon and so it is if we read its main message as everything in this life is meaningless or vain. But Ecclesiastes is a wonderful book. It’s short but powerful and punchy. It addresses life’s experiences and how we should live them, confront them, and respond to them as gifts from God.
There’s no doubting we live in a self-engrossed, foolish world today. In many ways, not unlike the times in which Jesus lived. Materialism, self-promotion, and quite often, selfishness, is prominent in our society. Extraordinary claims are made from time to time, that God does not exist; wealth is powerful and deserving of respect; claims that science has proved the unprovable, has observed the empirically unobservable, has physically measured the scientifically unmeasurable; all this despite not being experimentally repeatable. They are extraordinarily ignorant claims which to my simple mind, the foolishness or extraordinary ignorance of which is palpable.
It’s not surprising then, that in a world such as ours today, we can find ourselves seriously questioning the very fundamentals of our faith – can we trust in our Church/faith that the world claims is manifestly evil or bad; Can we trust a society that has little or no regard for the dignity of life or in a church which has been in many instances over time demonstrably bereft of any moral compass? Indeed, we are in worrying and challenging times – and we need to be prepared and courageous in confronting them.
Who then do we trust to reassure the truth of our faith? In whom do we place our trust in faith as a spiritual and moral guide in our lives? Dare I say it, but we look to the teachings of the Church based on Scripture, Christ’s teachings, and the tradition of revelation.
But then we get today’s readings! As difficult or confusing as they may seem on first reading, they are nevertheless for those who reject such secular claims about God and who instead choose to believe in God – who in faith seek truth. Our faith is a choice, not an obligation. We choose to believe in God, and we choose to believe the risen Christ as our God within the mystery of the Blessed Trinity - the ultimate source of truth!
Of course, as we know, challenges to that choice will come for the duration of life – there will be no letting up. Not just from the external or secular world but from within our own hearts. So where do we go for assurance?
Today’s first Reading from Ecclesiastes:
▪︎ Foolishness, or pursuit of the wind in this life, or trying to hold on to it, is the ultimate waste of time and effort for it is but like a breath or vapour – gone in an instant. Despite yielding some temporary happiness in shedding light on certain events in our lives, it does not yield joy, the ultimate aim of the Christian life. Wisdom, which is focussed on God’s love and provision, does – but in doing so, it also sheds light that can cause pain before joy in this world. The good person and the evil person may suffer the same calamities; the wealthy and the poor may suffer the same calamities; but how do their responses differ?
▪︎ Both wise and foolish people experience the same life events and ultimately die. The foolish person seeks solace in the temporary happiness in this life whereas the wise looks to the breath of life in the next. It colours how each respond to gifts from God in this life.
In today’s Gospel Reading from Luke:
▪︎ Jesus hammers home our human propensity for foolishness – for looking to this world as the source of ultimate joy. We hear of the foolish rich man. Jesus does not condemn riches but rather illuminates what might be within the heart of a person deriving or receiving such riches. He illuminates the frivolity of looking to wealth etc for a long life – not even the birds or the flowers will last – and you might not either.
▪︎ The farmer is described by Jesus as “foolish” – and Jesus’ response to him echoes the words of the First Reading – gathering possessions in this life is not a sign of God’s favour but a foolish response to God’s gift of a bumper harvest by turning away from Christ’s message and focussing on self-indulgence as their reward – a mere breath or vapour. All smoke and mirrors.
Let’s pray that in our faith journey, we become wiser in our faith and avoid the pitfalls of the vanity of vanities! That we might remind ourselves of the words of the old hymn:
Oh Breathe on me, Breath of God.
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love,
And do what Thou wouldst do.
God Bless.
Dcn Peter
