Value. This Old House (2022-07-31, Sunday-18)

___ Click Here for Audio of Homily____

___ Click Here for Video of Mass____

 2022-07-31 –18^th    Sunday 

Title:  Value. This Old House.

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

 

[__00__]   “Preface regarding 1^st reading and the word ‘vanity / vapor ”

Sometimes - what we think about what is going to make us rich, what is going to make us wealthy?  One way to make a lot of money is to come up also with a new hardware or software or technology thing that people will use. Now there's, in addition to the word hardware, you know, what hardware is like hardware is the plastic, the metal the screws in your phone, and the software is the coating and the apps inside the phone? Well, there's a third thing, or term I heard years ago called “vaporware”. The word “vapor” means steam or something you really cannot hold or touch. To say something is “vaporware” means it is only an idea – in someone’s mind or on somebody's drawing board. vaporware.

Vapor = vanity. In the 1^st reading. we are warned against vanity. “Vanity of vanities, all things are vanity”.  The word vanity could be translated as “vapor”  All things are vapor.  What we have is going to disintegrate ultimately. And Jesus is cautioning us by the parable about putting our trust in vapor, in this that don't really last He wants us to put our trust in what things that last.

So one of the things that we believe really last for example, is a house or the barn of the parable….

 

[__01__]  THE BROADCAST MESSAGE.   This Sunday’s parable tells of about a man tearing down 1 barn (storehouse), so as to build a new barn. Sounds like demolition, home improvement with hammers, nails, power-drills, and 2 x 4’s, sheetrock, & paintbrushes.

Though this construction project is neither video-recorded for HGTV nor for an extreme makeover TV show, the project is part of Jesus’ “broadcast” and message of a parable about what is really important in life. God > money.

          Before there were so many improvement TV shows, there was 1 in particular that is still around called --- “This Old House…”

 [__02__]  THE BUILDER’S METHOD.      [T-O-H]  is about the recovery and restoration an some older or historic house and its rooms and kitchens, attic, garage bedrooms, etc.

One of the ways “This Old House” and other programs create drama, is that a problem is discovered such as a leaky pipe, or a defective roof, or a beehive in the attic, or something that makes everybody wonder, should we even be doing this project digging in the ground painting these walls? Is it worth it? Will we get our money's worth? Maybe we should have left this old house alone, should we bother to do a makeover on This Old House?

 

[__03__]  THE BUYER’S MINDSET.     

The person who owns such and old house is the “buyer” or owner. As the buyer, he or she may has a certain mentality or mindset.  Do you have this mindset – that your value as a person is linked to the value of your home or some other material thing? “Do I own the house or does the house own me?”

Are you caught up in the care and value of your own apartment or home, whether you're renting an apartment or owning a home, you have yourself personally invested in a place where you live. And even if you don't feel invested or connected to your home, maybe there's something else material or physical which you cherish or treasure.

____ being in a particular school, ____ working in a particular job, ____ going to a particular store, ___ driving a particular car.  Taking care of material things is GOOD – by extension, we are taking care of other people too. In Genesis 1, God made Adam and Eve and you and me stewards of the whole earth.

With all that in mind. Are you ever worried about not having enough or perhaps getting yourself just a bit more to make yourself more comfortable? I like being comfortable.

Comfort is good. But sometimes comfort can become an idol. Sometimes we idolize it. And sometimes we choose comfort rather than choosing God or God's Word.

In this regard, you and I might become like the man of the parable, who wants to build larger store houses (barns) because he has so much grain such a bountiful wheat harvest. Because with wheat, you can make bread and as you know, at least in the English idiom, bread is everyday slang for money, dollars, cents. 

The man is very concerned about bread and what's in his wallet.

The Gospel reminds us that money is not our goal, but that receiving God's mercy is.

[__04__]  THE BONUS MONEY.     

One incident from my own life reminded me of my own concern for what was in my wallet or bank account. And, because of “money”, I was building a larger barn in my mind.

After college and before I was in the seminary, I changed from 1 employer / job to another. And partly I changed jobs because I was going to earn more money. I was going to get a higher salary. There were other benefits to the new job but the higher pay was motivation # 1.

When giving me the job, my boss boss told me that the company gave out annual bonuses to all the employees based on how well the company did and based on how well I did. Even better!

I was also told what my minimum bonus would be.  A few months later, my co workers were happy because the company had done very well.  Thus, I could – in my mind – build larger barns, focusing on more money. Also, since the company had done well, I came to expect more than the minimum bonus promised. If the company did well, I should get more than “minimum” right?

However, this  was not realistic. And I knew it. Because in the first several months of this job, I didn't really fit in well. My performance was poor. At the time of my “evaluation”, I was told by my boss -  “FERRY, you are getting your minimum bonus. Let’s see what happens next year.”

Those were the words of my boss, I was feeling an emotion similar to the man in the parable, who wants his brother to share the inheritance with him.

I was looking around at my co workers thinking I should be getting more than the “minimum” bonus money.

That's how I felt in the moment immediately. Looking later, I could see that my job was in jeopardy.

My boss, rather than penalizing me, was actually trying to protect and preserve my position which was worth more than an immediate bonus.

[][] I was not “saved or kept on as an employee for the exact same reason as I was hired. By some standard, I had fallen short. But the reason we stay committed to someone or something is not simply based on what’s happening right now or the history leading up to this moment.

We believe – for example – in the sanctity of life at all stages because of what is possible. In fact we are always growing and changing.

You are not the sum total of your bank account, or physical attributes,  or talents.  You are also not the sum total of your sinfulness, errors, faults. We may fear that because of our sins we are diminished or devalued. The Gospel is the exact opposite. “"For scarce for a just man will one die: yet perhaps for a good man some one would dare to die. But God commendeth his charity towards us: because when as yet we were sinners according to the time. Christ died for us. " (Romans 5:7-9)”

God’s mercy is greater than any of our sins.  [][]

There was an inherent there was an inherent value in me as a person that was not measured in monetary and a monetary bonus or dollar amount.

That's also true of you.

You have a monetary you have a value beyond money or beyond anything material. The Gospel urges us not simply to think about the immediate value in our bank account, or even the current level of our strength and talents. Rather, the Lord wants us to put our faith in Him so that He can remake us each day. Thus, you will be rich in what matters to God.  [END]

Addendum:

Catholic Catechism, n. 1723, Section on "Dignity / Christian Blessing"

1723 The [Beatitudes of Matthew speak of our desire to be blessed / happy and they confront] us with decisive moral choices. [The Beatitudes invite] us to purify our hearts of bad instincts and to seek the love of God above all else. It teaches us that true happiness is not found in riches or well-being, in human fame or power, or in any human achievement - however beneficial it may be - such as science, technology, and art, or indeed in any creature, but in God alone, the source of every good and of all love:

All bow down before wealth. Wealth is that to which the multitude of men pay an instinctive homage. They measure happiness by wealth; and by wealth they measure respectability. . . . It is a homage resulting from a profound faith . . . that with wealth he may do all things. Wealth is one idol of the day and notoriety is a second. . . . Notoriety, or the making of a noise in the world - it may be called "newspaper fame" - has come to be considered a great good in itself, and a ground of veneration. (John Henry Cardinal Newman, "Saintliness the Standard of Christian Principle," in Discourses to Mixed Congregations (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1906) V, 89-90.)