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Scripture Reflections for Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year C, Lectionary 114

THEMES: Anxiety • Balance • Community • Creation • Death • Disciple • Economy • Ego • Eternity • Focus • Fool • Generosity • Greed • Grief • Heaven • Hope • Joy • Life • Love • Neighbor • Possessions • Poverty • Priority • Qoheleth • Reconciliation • Relationship • Repent • Share • Sin • Suffering • Vanity • Wealth • Wisdom • Worry • Worship •

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23

“if your life is not about you maybe it is about God and that's what initiated people begin to understand”

Bishop Robert Barron. "The Lessons of Qoheleth." Word on Fire. August 5, 2007

“we affirm the good things of the world, we don't run from them, make fun of them. But...When we base our lives on them then we collapse and that's why we need Qoheleth to say, 'ultimately, in the grand scheme of things all these earthly goods and pleasures are nothing compared to God'”

Bishop Robert Barron. "The Wisdom of Qoheleth." Word on Fire. August 1, 2004

Psalm 90:3-6, 12-14, 17

Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11

Luke 12:13-21

“the ultimate message of today’s gospel is to make space in your life to discern how do we invest in what really matters: love and connection”

Kate O’Brien. "Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time." Australian Women Preach. July 24, 2022

Overall Readings

“Love, joy, gladness even or especially amid the sorrow and the grief the Lord reminds us of what our life is all about. But do we start the day by asking the Lord to remind us of this?” -Vivian Cabrera

“the Word of God reminds us if you don't order yourself with God, your greed will send you to hell...your lust for things, your lust for people, your lust for power will lead you to a space of no return” -Fr. Stephen Thorne

“Our creation in the image of God gives us a beautiful vocation in destiny. We are made for relationship with God and one another and not just any kind of relationship but the relationship of mutual love that our tradition calls communion.” -Elizabeth Garlow

“It is not how much possession I have that will count against me. It is how much my possession has possessed me. There'll be multi-billionaires in heaven just as there will be many poor people who will miss heaven.” -Fr. Emmanuel Ochigbo

“if you read the fuller context of Ecclesiastes, too, you'll see that in particular what the book is highlighting is the anxiety that comes with wealth” -Brant Pitre

“Let us heed the warning by not storing up treasure for ourselves instead of becoming rich in the sight of God” -Fr. Geoffrey Plant

“Luke’s parables about money are ultimately parables about discipleship. And as the Gospels make quite clear, discipleship in the kingdom of God requires us to radically rethink our relationship to wealth and material things.” -Meghan Clark

“We get very preoccupied with all of the things that tie us down on Earth but...Jesus wants us to know that our life can be over just like that. That we're not even promised the rest of today” -Monsignor Raymond East

“Today’s readings are reminders that life does not depend on how much property a person owns, but on whether the person uses God’s gifts wisely and carefully”

Sr. Claris Zwareva, MM. "Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time." Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. July 31, 2022

“This parable is told only in Luke. It’s logical message to the man is: you are distressed about something that is not all that important. Abundance belongs to God—and life belongs to God.”

Mary Ortwein. "The Right Use of Things." A Catholic Moment. July 30, 2022

“One of our most persistent illusions or idolatries in our technocratic society is a kind of magical thinking, an assumption that we can find a solution to all the problems we have generated without much altering our present way of living.”

Fr. Gregory Murphy. "How to be Happy." Torch. July 28, 2022

“One needs first to despair of finding lasting happiness in temporal affairs before a life of self-denial in communion with Jesus Christ makes sense.”

John Bergsma. "Oh, Vanity!." The Sacred Page. July 27, 2022

“The man in the parable was called a rich fool because he omitted two important virtues that give meaning to wealth: Appreciation of God as the source of his wealth, and sharing his wealth with the poor.”

Fr. Lawrence Obilor. "The danger of Riches." A Catholic Moment. August 4, 2019

“Physical wealth and richness is a sign of positive development but it must be for the service of those who are still suffering and those who are excluded, those left furthest behind in the development”

Sr. Marvie Misolas. "Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time." Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. August 4, 2019

“Today’s Gospel begins with a man asking Jesus to help him claim his due inheritance...But Jesus invites this man to ask: ‘In the light of eternity, should I let this go? Is peace in the family more precious than the money?’ How often does Jesus ask us this kind of question?”

Fr. Richard Conrad. "Who wants to live forever?." Torch. July 31, 2019

“I am thinking of a group of Juárez citizens who are looking for ways of uniting neighborhoods by providing recreational space for children, creating cottage industries for the unemployed and especially promoting channels of communication among one another. What a worthy way to share one’s time, efforts, skills and financial resources!”

Fr. John Northrup. "18th Sunday in Ordinary Time." Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. July 31, 2016

“It’s about using the things in your life, those little blessings, for creating moments where you can become closer to God”

Joseph LaCombe. "Don’t Live Life in Vain." A Catholic Moment. July 30, 2016

“God is the creator and giver of all good things. Life is not something we possess; it is a gift we receive. And we want share these gifts with others.”

Fr. David Sanders. "Sharing Possessions Makes You Rich in the Sight of God." Torch. July 26, 2016

“That is the main thing we were put here on earth to do. To learn to quit being selfish, because that is actually the definition of sin. We were put here on earth to learn to love God, to love Jesus and to love our family, friends and the people we live and work with in our everyday lives.”

Laura Kazlas. "One’s Life Does Not Consist of Money and Possessions." A Catholic Moment. August 4, 2013

“we bless others with the blessings God has given us, and so our very lives become a blessing, a sacrifice of praise and thanks to God. So, the goods of this world are to be selflessly used well for the good of all, but selfishness and greed leads to their abuse such that creation itself is exploited.”

Fr. Lawrence Lew. "Affluenza." Torch. August 1, 2010

“According to the gospel, to be human is to be a receiver and giver of gifts; they come from beyond us, and are for sharing around and saying goodbye to when it’s the right time.”

Fr. Colin Carr. "Only the light-hearted." Torch. August 1, 2004

“And so he gives us through his death and resurrection the fullness of all that is human. That is why we put to death in us whatever is not of Christ: sexual impurity, greed (a form of idolatry), anger, malice, lying. These are simply not consistent with being ‘raised with Christ’.”

Fr. Fabian Radcliffe. "The Meaning of Life." Torch. August 5, 2001

“Do I despair? No, I just kind of learn to live in the present moment, savoring what I can but also letting go. Why, why? Because I realize that the true good, the truly beautiful belongs to a higher world.”

Bishop Robert Barron. "You Can’t Take It With You." Word on Fire. July 31, 2022

“The only thing you'll have in the heavenly realm is the love you cultivated here below”

Bishop Robert Barron. "Bigger Barns or Treasure in Heaven?." Word on Fire. August 4, 2019

Richard Rohr. "Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!." Center for Action and Contemplation. August 4, 2019

“once we see everything in light of God we can learn to love the things of this world without clinging to them. Without expecting too much of them. Think how much disappointment and heartache can be avoided if we only learn this truth.”

Bishop Robert Barron. "Bubbles, Everything is Bubbles." Word on Fire. July 31, 2016

“Yes to the world. God found it good, indeed, very good. No to the world in the measure that nothing in this world is God. Live in that space and you'll find the right spiritual balance.”

Bishop Robert Barron. "The Great Yes and The Great No." Word on Fire. August 4, 2013

Richard Rohr. "Jesus Is Honest About Wealth." Center for Action and Contemplation. August 4, 2013

“Who you are is always more important than what you have. Why? For who you are will last forever, what you have will fade away.”

Bishop Robert Barron. "To Have and To Be." Word on Fire. August 1, 2010

“the moment though I say, 'this won't satisfy me and I know it. This is not what my life is all about, in fact, this is all ultimately vanity.' Whether it's sex or money or power or material things. It's then that I begin to enjoy those things. And see them as God sees them, as yes, very good but just not my ultimate good.”

Bishop Robert Barron. "All is Vanity, and That’s Good News." Word on Fire. August 5, 2001

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