FOR WHAT DOES HE GAIN FOR ALL THE TOIL AND STRAIN…?

HOMILY FOR THE 18TH SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Most of us might have heard or read about the story of the rich king with four wives. He loved the fourth wife the most and adorned her with rich robes. He gave her the best. He also loved the third wife very much and was always showing her off to neighbouring kingdoms. However, he feared that one day she would leave him for another. He also loved the second wife. She was his confidant and was kind, considerate and patient with him. Whenever the king faced a problem, she would help him get through it. The king’s first wife was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions to his wealth and kingdom. However, he did not love the first wife. Although she loved him deeply, he sparingly took notice of her. One day, the king fell ill and knew his time was short. He thought of his luxurious life and wondered: I now have four wives with me, but when I die, I will be all alone. To the fourth wife, he said: I loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that am dying, will you follow me to keep me company? No way, she said as she walked away. Her answer cut like a sharp knife right into his heart.

The sad king asked the third wife: I loved you with all my heart; now that am dying, will you follow me and keep me company? No, replied her, life is too good. When you die, I am going to remarry. His heart sank and turned cold. He then asked the second wife: I have always turned to you for help and advice, and you have been there for me. Now that am dying, will you follow me? I am sorry, I cannot help you out this time, replied the second wife. At the very most, I can only walk with you to your grave. The king was devastated. Then a voice called out: I will go with you. I will follow you no matter where you are going. The king looked up and behold, it was the first wife. She was very skinny as she suffered from malnutrition and neglect. With great grievance, the king said: I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance. Would this mean that this king laboured almost for nothing and for people who never held him so dear? Or would it also mean that he ended up misplacing his priorities -the one that should have been taken care of more than the others, he sidelined and neglected? And one might ask, what would now be the gain of this king for all his toil and strain?

This story might be likened to the famous biblical story of the Rich man which is the Gospel of this Sunday (Luke 12:13-21). Jesus taught a man who had complained to him about the acquisition of material inheritance a great lesson. This man, as it were, had his eyes focused on earthly possessions as Jesus was teaching the crowd to be fearless in confessing him. This would imply that the fundamental principle of life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. This man was more concerned about worldly acquisitions  than spiritual enrichment. The counter-question of Jesus ‘who made me a judge over you?’ unravels how he saw Jesus as just a dispute resolution lawyer over issues of worldly wealth, forgetting those exhorting words: seek first the kingdom of God and every other thing will be added unto you (Matt 6:3). He further on told him the  story of the rich fool so as to make it clearer to him what covetousness could do to the soul.

Whatever has one’s affection gets his/her attention. This rich man forgot his soul and his temporality. Yes, he might have worked so hard, made riches, but he never worked hard for his soul. When we work strenuously for our businesses, aspirations and ideas, but fail to work for our spiritual edification, or see in those material acquisitions aids for spiritual nourishment, it would all amount to vanity. The preacher of the  First Reading (Eccl. 1:2, 2:21-23) puts it so well -vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Our struggle in this life would all be in vain when we misplace priorities; that is, when we fail to place God first. A life that lives without nourishing the soul might be tending towards vanity. When one forgets his soul and toils for human wisdom, knowledge and skill; and then has to die leaving those for another, would it not all amount to vanity? For what does he gain for all the toil and strain that he has undergone under the sun?

Let us go back to the story of the King with four wives. Some times, we might see ourselves replaying the attitude of this king in our lives. We sometimes neglect the most important values of life. Like this king, we have four wives. Our fourth wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it will leave us when we die. Our third wife is our possessions, status and wealth; it will all go to others when we die. Our second wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, the farthest they can stay by us is up to the grave. But, our first wife is our soul; often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasures of this world. However, our soul is the only ‘wife’ that would go with us to eternity. It is then, for us, another good opportunity to strive to discover great means to cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now, in preparation for eternity. Value your soul and feed it with the word of God. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is quoted to have said, things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. The soul matters most.

My discovery is that the misplacement of priorities has some symptoms such as busyness (growing so busy over a lot of things), undue stress/pressure (pressurized by events or persons, and this might lead to confusion), lack of keeping to agreements and spiritual sloth (the neglect of our spiritual life). And one might think of such reasons why priorities are misplaced: Ignorance and Gullibility (not knowing enough and being easily deceived could make one not decipher the right thing to do first), Insecurity (not trusting that our provident father in his abundance could supply us with our daily meal when we devote our time, talent and treasure to him), Frustration (the feeling of disillusionment with ourselves or discouragement over failures when we see that our efforts to place aright our priorities fail). O God, teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (cf. Psalm 90:12).

Some life challenging questions for our reflection today about misplacement of priorities might include: Why must one run into a burning house to save a valuable property? Why must one care more in the case of an accident about a property other than the person injured? Why must our loved one be allowed to suffer when have the wherewithal to support? Why must we choose sleep, holiday, day-off over the person who seriously needs assistance? Why choose to remain silent in the face of injustice and treachery? Why waste meals when there are millions dying annually for malnutrition and starvation? Etc.

St. Paul provides us with the cure for, or better still, an antidote to vanity in the Second Reading (Col 3:1-5, 9-11): since you have been raised with Christ, set your minds on things that are in heaven (Col 3:1-2). This is another way of saying: let the goal of our striving be eternity; because in it we see gain through the vanities of this world. If only we could honour the Lord with our wealth, with the first fruits of all our crops, then our barns will be filled to overflowing, and our vats will brim over with new wine (cf. Prov. 3:9-10). If only the rich man was able to offer his riches up for the sake of others who suffer, he would not have been termed a fool. Similarly, if only we can offer up the proceeds from our labours and skills for the sake of humanity who suffer, then, we would not have toiled in vain. Vanity is cured when we offer for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. All is not vanity when we make humanity gain from our labours and skills. In the God of Jesus the Christ, there is no vanity; there is great meaningfulness. May God feel our hearts to see the great meaning of life and to live by it. Amen. Happy new month/week. God bless you.