~ Back in 1947, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst bought an estate in Beverly Hills for the then-astounding sum of 120-thousand dollars. He only lived there four years before he died. A variety of other people have owned it since then, and it has a colorful history. John F. Kennedy spent his honeymoon there, and it’s been used as the setting for several movies, including “The Godfather” and “The Bodyguard”. At one time, it was officially the most expensive residential property listing in the United States. It most recently sold in 2021 for 63 million dollars. The estate has three acres, four houses, a security cottage, a ballroom, a library, three swimming pools and 29 bathrooms. I have no idea what you do with 29 bathrooms, unless you’re running a hotel.
We hear about places like that, or the Biltmore in North Carolina or the Breakers in Rhode Island, and we wonder what it must be like to live that kind of life. And then we hear today’s gospel.
A man spends his life becoming rich – “acquiring a bountiful harvest.” He tears down barns to build bigger ones, and makes plans to enjoy the rest of his life with all he has accumulated. Maybe he had three swimming pools and 29 bathrooms, too. But in the middle of it all, God speaks: “You fool.” The man is about to die and everything he’s collected will be gone. “You fool.”
And those of us hearing this today might wonder: is God talking to me?
You know how it goes. Often, the more you have, the more you want. You’re happy with that nice little cell phone you’ve had for years… you know, the one you keep forgetting to turn off during mass… but then along comes the newest iPhone. You see the ads everywhere, and every day there are news stories about it, and you see people using it on the bus, and then a friend goes out and gets one and as soon as he shows to you, you start to drool with envy. And you planning to get one for yourself. You don’t need one. But that doesn’t matter. You’ve just got to have it. And before you know it, you are all set to tear down your barn and build a bigger one. Just for an iPhone.
I know the feeling. I’ve been there, too. Guilty as charged!
This is the world we live in. But don’t forget, it’s the world Jesus lived in, too. Our toys have changed, but our impulses haven’t.
In today’s scripture readings, we are asked to be better than that.
“Vanity of vanities,” we hear in the Old Testament. “All is vanity!”
“Put to death,” Paul writes, “the parts of you that are earthly.”
But God still, I think, puts it best: “You fool.”
We spend so much of our lives trying to get what we really don’t need – and so often we lose sight of what we do.
Today, Jesus cautions us about storing up treasure for ourselves while not being “rich in what matters to God.” Note that Jesus doesn’t say we can’t have treasures. But we need to be “rich in what matters to God.” So what does that mean?
Over the last few weeks at Sunday Mass, if you’ve really paid attention to Luke’s gospel, we’ve been hearing “what matters to God”: to be bearers of peace as we go about our day… The Good Samaritan taught us to love God and love our neighbor… Martha and Mary taught us to pay attention to the Lord. Last week, in the gospel, Jesus taught us how to pray.
Peace. Love. Care for the needy. Focus on the Lord. Pray.
All of that is so fundamental. But it is so easy to forget, or neglect, when there are new toys waiting to be bought. We can forget “what matters to God.” We can forget what it means to make room for others in our lives. We can forget the God who brought this world into being and then showed us how to love one another.
In the gospel today, Jesus tells us: “Though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
In today’s psalm, we prayed: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.”
It is a wisdom all of us need to pray for – now more than ever. The wisdom to remember what is important. The wisdom to appreciate and value those around us. The wisdom to live every day for what it is – a gift from God – and to give it back with gratitude and with joy. The wisdom to love as Jesus showed us — generously, selflessly, completely.
Friends, as we come forward to receive the Eucharist this day — to receive in our hands and in our hearts what we truly need, the gift of God himself — let this, then, be our prayer:
“God, teach us to number our days aright…that we may gain wisdom of heart.”