Friday, June 17, 2016

Homily: Friday - 11th Week of OT 2016 - Do not store up treasure on earth



When Jesus says “do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth” he is not imposing a ban on all possessions, of course; it is not a sin for us to own things. The Catechism speaks of a right to private property. Nor is Jesus forbidding us to “stock up” and save for times of famine.  The book of proverbs tells us to look to the example of the ant that stores up in the summer for what it will need in the winter and calls foolish those who make no provisions for their families or the future.
Jesus calls us to a simple, practical use of the world’s goods. For the person preoccupied with accumulating treasures on earth is not free to serve the Father’s kingdom fully because his heart is weighed down by the concerns of the world. 

Pope Francis has often spoke about the dangers of materialism. Recently he said, “Whenever material things, money, worldliness, become the center of our lives, they take hold of us, they possess us; we lose our very identity as human beings”.  Materialism, he says, makes us “self-absorbed” and “finding security in material things ultimately rob us of our face, our human face.”

The human person is “made in the image and likeness of God, not in the image and likeness of material objects, so too much concern for material things can lead us to “lose the memory of God.”
Instead of loving people and using things, Materialism leads us to use people and love things—to treat others as material goods for our own pleasure.  It is not a coincidence that as materialism spreads so will pornography, prostitution, human trafficking, and sexual violence. 

Materialism is not only deadly to the individual soul, but the Pope has cautioned that the idolatry of wealth, power and pleasure, which come at a high cost to human lives on a global level.  How much of our international conflict is fueled by greed?

We all do well to examine our lifestyles in light of Jesus’ teaching today. Do we love people and use things, or have we begun to love things and use people? Have we begun to take false security and false trust in the goods of the earth? Are we wholeheartedly devoted to storing up treasures in heaven through the Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting which Jesus spoke of earlier in the Sermon.

May the Holy Spirit help each of us to be faithful to the teaching of Jesus, to be free from all that keeps us from loving God and neighbor with undivided hearts, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.




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