The readings today begin with Ecclesiastes' rant against those whose lives revolve around meaningless goals. "Vanity of Vanities,” the author says, "All things are vanity.” In the Gospel, Jesus tells a parable about a farmer whose goal is to be rich, who stores up far more than he needs, and plans to save even more with bigger barns, only to die that very night. "Seek that which is above,” Paul tells the Colossians and us, and then he lists some of the things that hold us back in seeking God: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed and lying. The readings ask us to consider our priorities in life. What is it for which we work so hard? Certainly, we need to work hard to provide for our families. That is important. But what is the priority there? Why do we work, day after day, for our families? What is it that we are so determined to provide? We want a decent home. We want food and other necessities. We want to provide for a better future for our children. Why? Why do we want all these things? The basic goal we should have as Christians is to provide homes full of true love, the sacrificial love of the Lord. That has to be our basic goal for us as individuals: we have to grow in the love of the Lord, expressed according to our vocation in life: single, married, religious, or ordained. The problem is that we often forget our priorities and put our energy into attaining those things that don’t last.
What is a successful life? We work hard for something we always wanted. Once we have it, we enjoy it for a while, and then we work hard for the next thing. We often work in vain. Is a person's life successful if he or she is making a certain amount of money? That is the way many people calculate success. But are they correct? The readings for this Sunday force us to take a closer look at the whole concept of success. In the Gospel reading, the man is convinced he is a success because he is a rich farmer.
What should the farmer do now that he has succeeded in harvesting more grain than he can store? Build another silo, of course. The basis of his success is his grain. When he suddenly dies, his success remains here, and he goes on to God empty handed. There is a reason why we never find a luggage rack on the roof of a hearse. The mindset that success is predicated on possessions is based on a fallacy that was very clear to the author of the first reading.
A doctor is successful not if he or she has a prosperous practice but if he or she becomes the healing hands of Christ for the sick. A lawyer is successful not if he or she is part of a profitable firm, but if he or she uses their learning, knowledge and talent to protect people, to do good for others, and, to be just. Many times an incorrect view of success is based on honors and titles. Is a priest a success if he becomes a Monsignor or a Bishop? Not at all. I sometimes find myself tying the success of my ministry here to things like the collection, mass attendance, the Beyond Sunday campaign, fixing buildings and getting people involved in ministries and prayer. All good things but not necessarily the right way to judge success. A priest is truly on the road to success if he can draw closer to God each day of his life while also bringing his parishioners he serves nearer to God along the journey. How can we determine if a marriage is successful? Is a marriage successful because a woman and a man have been together for twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty years and have avoided both divorce and homicide? Anniversaries are important, but do they point to the success of a marriage or only to its longevity?
A marriage is successful if the man and woman are better people, more loving people, because of the marriage. The sacrament of marriage is celebrated when the husband and wife become the means of salvation for each other. How about parenting? What are the signs that people are good parents? Success in parenting is certainly not based on what your kids have, but what they have been given in terms of values and formation. For example, many of you have begun shopping for school clothes. Perhaps, some of you are shopping at Walmart or Target. Maybe others are shopping at Macys or Nordstroms. The cost of the clothes you put on your children has nothing to do with the success of your parenting. If your example shows them the face of God and his love and mercy, then you have done something extraordinary.
The concept of success accepted by most in society is faulty. Success is not predicated on what we have, what honors we receive, what jobs we hold, or anything like that. True success is based on how each of us becomes more and more the reflection of God we were created to be. Success is our ability to assume the person of Jesus Christ. St. Paul says in the second reading that our lives are hidden with Christ in God in such a way that when Christ appears we appear. The personality of a Christian ought to be so entwined with the person of Jesus Christ that Christ and the Christian are one. That is success. Success is not a present reality, it is a goal, the goal of Christian life. The goal is reached, the life is successful, when every aspect of life reflects the person of Jesus Christ. We may not do this perfectly all the time, every day but with God’s help our life will slowly be defined by that effort and we will focus on things that are most important and everlasting. That is success. That is heaven. All else is vanity.
