One of the very interesting parts of the Rule of St. Benedict from the 6th century is what he wrote about the right use of things. On one hand he says, “Whoever fails to keep the things belonging to the monastery clean or treats them carelessly should be reproved,” (Rule of St. Benedict, 32) but in the next paragraph he says, “no one may presume to give, receive or retain anything as his own, nothing at all—not a book, writing tablets or stylus—in short, not a single item.” (Rule of St. Benedict, 33)
Benedict taught that the right use of things was to see them as important tools for maintaining a quality of life. They were not to be disdained. But things were always meant for the “common good”—for a quality of lifestyle for the entire community.
Today’s readings can lead us to consider our own right use of things.
Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23
This short passage comes from Ecclesiastes, one of the Hebrew books of wisdom literature. Qoheleth is Hebrew and means “one who gathers.” Some Bible translations translate it as “the preacher.” Qoheleth is the voice of the author of Ecclesiastes. It was likely written around the 3rd century BC and is directed to counter Greek philosophical influence on the Hebrew community. The gist of the whole book could be summarized in today’s short selection: ordinary life is a lot of effort for nothing.
Peter Kreeft, in his book Three Philosophies of Life, describes the book of Ecclesiastes as the book of the Bible that never mentions God, but beautifully describes the uselessness of life without the understanding of God given in the rest of Scripture. He says, “The surface of life appears in this book with total clarity, brutal honesty, and spiritual poverty. Ecclesiastes is the truest picture of the surface that has ever been written.” (p 19)
But then, Kreeft points out:
“The question Ecclesiastes raises is so deep that only an answer that is deeper still can satisfy the mind and heart that dare to ask it, and if such an answer is not forthcoming, we must either run from the question in a dishonest cover-up or run from life in despair. These are the two running sores that plague the modern world.
Ecclesiastes is the one book in the Bible that modern man needs most to read, for it is Lesson One, and the rest of the Bible is Lesson Two, and modernity does not heed Lesson Two because it does not heed Lesson One.” (p 19-20)
Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11
The second reading continues the study of Colossians. If the first reading helps us accept the reality of the world around us, this second reading is a picture of the church. It names a whole host of the “earthly”, i.e. the world described in Ecclesiastes, that is also present in the church and in its individual members: “immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.” It is good to remember that the church has been a field hospital from the beginning. As another theme in Ecclesiastes says, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”
BUT Colossians gives a solution: “Think of what is above, not what is on earth…Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.”
Colossians says in effect: Accept that you and the folks around you are sinners. We may sin differently from each other at a given time, but we all sin. Don’t lie to each other and say “I’m OK, you’re OK”—when neither one of us are. Instead, let us BOTH claim Christ because Christ came to raise us all—raise us all to eternal life, yes, but also to raise us all to HIS STANDARD of faith, hope, love—and living. “Christ is all and in all.”
Love and hold and accept and need each other. AND do what we can to move to the standard of Christ.
This is true for the right use of things—as well as sexual morality, civic responsibility, love within a family.
Luke 12: 13-21
The setting for Luke 12 is Jesus “on the road.” There are nine snapshots of Jesus’ conversations in this chapter. For this scene, I picture Jesus sitting on a large rock. He has been teaching “the multitudes.” He is taking a break, and a man approaches him about an inheritance matter. Jewish law was very clear about matters of inheritance, so there was no need for Jesus to give legal guidance. Instead, Jesus tells a story to settle the man’s heart.
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.
Commentators on this parable comment about how the man in the parable talks only to himself. He seems to be thinking only of himself. He plans only for himself. He believes that his efforts create his security.
We could say he suffers from Greed.
Greed—what is it? It can be defined as “an intense and selfish longing for something, especially, wealth, power, or food.” It often comes from an experience of scarcity in life. Children in foster care who have not had enough to eat when they were with their parents will hide food in their beds. Many who are perpetrators of violence lacked basics of love and care when they were children.
Greed also has an element of survival of the fittest in it. “I will take care of myself.” It has a strong dose of envy, too. The greedy count other people’s blessings and want them, instead of counting and caring for their own.
Applications
The last line of the Gospel is “Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.” Something tells me that is the line of the parable that went straight to the questioner’s heart. Was he jealous of his brother to whom Jewish law gave more inheritance? Was greed confounding his judgment?
We don’t know, but we do know how the right use of things can complicate our lives or make our lives abundant in God’s simple lifestyle. How do we have enough–but not too much? How do we serve as good stewards of what we have? How do we manage ourselves if we lack what others have and yearn for it?
The best advice I have seen for these questions is in Thomas Dubay’s Happy Are You Poor: The Simple Life and Spiritual Freedom. This is a book about being stewards of possessions–the right use of things.
St. Benedict’s Rule is also a guide: Share with all, but be a conscientious steward to care for possessions as tools for an abundant life in community.
Prayer:
Thank You, Lord, for all the abundance You have given me. Help me always be willing to share what I have. Help me to take good care of what You have given me. Give me more wisdom about how to manage “things”—how much attention to give to repair, to maintenance, to development of resources. Let possessions not possess me.
Thank You, too, for the poverties you give me, for they help me appreciate my dependence on You.
