August 3, 2025 Homily: Fr, Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:02Today Jesus speaks directly to a
2. 0:05question that lies at the heart of every
3. 0:08human being.
4. 0:11What are we living for?
5. 0:14It's a question we may avoid, but it
6. 0:16demands an answer.
7. 0:19What do you truly desire?
8. 0:22What drives your decisions, your daily
9. 0:26actions, your dreams for the future?
10. 0:30In the gospel, Jesus tells us the story
11. 0:32of a rich man.
12. 0:35His land has yielded an abundant
13. 0:37harvest, more than he can handle.
14. 0:41And his solution is to build bigger
15. 0:43barns to store away all the grains and
16. 0:46goods, planning to live comfortably for
17. 0:50years to come.
18. 0:52But God call but God calls him a fool.
19. 0:56Why? because that very night his life
20. 1:00would be demanded of him and all those
21. 1:02treasures would be left behind.
22. 1:06This parable isn't simply about wealth
23. 1:09or money.
24. 1:11It is a mirror held up against us
25. 1:14challenging us to consider what we place
26. 1:16at the center of our lives.
27. 1:20What treasures are we accumulating?
28. 1:23What are the barns that we are building?
29. 1:28Many of us in our culture are surrounded
30. 1:30by the message that success means having
31. 1:32more.
32. 1:34More money, bigger houses, newer cars,
33. 1:37the latest gadgets, status, influence.
34. 1:42These goods are not bad in themselves.
35. 1:45Don't get me wrong.
36. 1:48But the problem is when they become the
37. 1:50ultimate good,
38. 1:52the measure of our worth, the source of
39. 1:54our security.
40. 1:58The book of Ecclesiastes from our first
41. 2:00reading is drawn brutally honest about
42. 2:04this.
43. 2:05It calls these things vanities of
44. 2:08vanities.
45. 2:10Meaning they're fleeting, empty,
46. 2:12ultimately meaningless if they are our
47. 2:15end.
48. 2:17We can spend our whole lives chasing
49. 2:19after possessions and achievements only
50. 2:22to realize that they can fill the
51. 2:24deepest longing. They cannot fill the
52. 2:27deepest longings of our hearts.
53. 2:31We will go about searching.
54. 2:34Think about it. How many nights have we
55. 2:36laying awake burdened by worries about
56. 2:40money, about relationships, about our
57. 2:42future?
58. 2:44Sometimes these anxieties are justified
59. 2:47and call us to prudent care.
60. 2:51But often they reveal how easily we
61. 2:53place our trust in things that cannot
62. 2:55save us.
63. 2:58St. Paul in today's second reading urges
64. 3:00us to put away the distractions of
65. 3:02impurity, of greed, and lustful desires.
66. 3:07These two are vanities,
67. 3:10false treasures that promise happiness
68. 3:12but leave us empty and broken.
69. 3:16He reminds us that living for God means
70. 3:18setting our minds on what is above and
71. 3:20not on earthly things.
72. 3:23Jesus's harsh words in the gospel should
73. 3:26be a wake-up call for all of us.
74. 3:30One's life does not consist in the
75. 3:32abundance of possessions. He says
76. 3:35it's a direct challenge to all of us who
77. 3:37measure success by the size of our bank
78. 3:40accounts or the by the things that we
79. 3:41own.
80. 3:44This challenge is not easy.
81. 3:47Goes against the grain of our society
82. 3:49and even against many of our own habits
83. 3:51and desires. The way we've been
84. 3:54hardwired, if you say, but it's
85. 3:56necessary for us to call for a
86. 3:59conversion.
87. 4:01Consider the rich man in another gospel
88. 4:05story.
89. 4:07He kept the commandments but knew
90. 4:09something was missing.
91. 4:11Jesus told him to go sell what he had
92. 4:14and then follow him
93. 4:17to give away his possessions and store
94. 4:20up treasures in heaven.
95. 4:23The young man went away sad, unwilling
96. 4:25to give up what he held dear.
97. 4:29Many of us face the same test though
98. 4:32perhaps less dramatically.
99. 4:35But the question before us is where is
100. 4:37our treasure?
101. 4:40What do we long for?
102. 4:43What gives our life meaning? How do we
103. 4:46understand eternal life?
104. 4:49God invites us to be rich towards him.
105. 4:53This means cultivating virtues like
106. 4:56charity, humility, patience, and
107. 4:58faithfulness.
108. 5:00It means investing in our lives, lives
109. 5:03that are full of love, love for God and
110. 5:06for our neighbor.
111. 5:08But how do we do this practically?
112. 5:12How do we stop being consumed? What what
113. 5:15fades and starts building something
114. 5:17eternal?
115. 5:19Well, I would give you these four
116. 5:22points.
117. 5:23First, we begin by remembering that
118. 5:26everything that we have, absolutely
119. 5:28everything is a gift from God.
120. 5:31Our time, our talents, our resources,
121. 5:33even our very life itself
122. 5:36are entrusted to us
123. 5:39not to hoard selfishly, but to use it
124. 5:42wisely and generously.
125. 5:45The second thing is we need to practice
126. 5:47detachment.
127. 5:50This doesn't mean rejecting what is good
128. 5:52or necessary but rather not allowing our
129. 5:54hearts to be controlled by things.
130. 5:58Detachment frees us to give freely and
131. 6:01to love fully.
132. 6:04Third, we need to seek God daily.
133. 6:08We need to be able to wake up every
134. 6:10single morning, pray, worship, and open
135. 6:13our hearts to the Holy Spirit that the
136. 6:16Holy Spirit may align our desires with
137. 6:18God's will.
138. 6:21Start the morning, start our world and
139. 6:23our lives through his eyes.
140. 6:26And then lastly, the fourth point, live
141. 6:30generously.
142. 6:33Share your blessings, your time, and
143. 6:36love with those in need. Building
144. 6:38treasures in heaven by acts of mercy and
145. 6:41kindness.
146. 6:43Today's gospel reminds us that life is
147. 6:45fragile and fleeting.
148. 6:48At every funeral, I like to remind
149. 6:50people that there's a very thin veil
150. 6:52between this life and the next.
151. 6:56None of us knows the hour when our life
152. 6:58will be called to account.
153. 7:01We're called to live with eternity in
154. 7:03mind, to make choices that matter
155. 7:05forever.
156. 7:09There's a story of an American tourist
157. 7:11who once visited a great rabbi in Poland
158. 7:14named Hoffets Shaen.
159. 7:18He went to visit the rabbi and he
160. 7:20noticed that the rabbi's home was
161. 7:22simple, just books, a table, and a
162. 7:24bench.
163. 7:25The tourist asked the rabbi, "Where is
164. 7:29your furniture?"
165. 7:31The rabbi replied, "Where's yours?"
166. 7:35Puzzled, the tourist said, "I'm just
167. 7:37passing through."
168. 7:39The rabbi smiled and said, "So am I."
169. 7:44The story reminds us that our time on
170. 7:46earth is temporary.
171. 7:49We're pilgrims passing through.
172. 7:53We don't carry our possessions beyond
173. 7:55this life.
174. 7:57What remains is the love we've given,
175. 7:59the lives we have touched, and the faith
176. 8:01that we have lived.
177. 8:03So, my brothers and sisters,
178. 8:06go forth this week examining your own
179. 8:09hearts.
180. 8:11Are we building barns for ourselves? Are
181. 8:14we storing up treasures in heaven? Are
182. 8:17we chasing vanity or embracing the life
183. 8:19God has called us to live?
184. 8:22full of grace, generosity, and eternal
185. 8:24hope.
186. 8:27May the Lord gives give us wisdom to
187. 8:30seek what endures, what those things
188. 8:32that truly matter. That the Lord may
189. 8:35give us strength to help us with the
190. 8:37distractions.
191. 8:39And may he give us joy in the riches of
192. 8:41his love. Amen.
193. 8:43>> Amen.