By Msgr. Joseph Prior • Posted August 1, 2025

(See the readings for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

The New York Times ran a story about 10 years ago about a man who ran a car dealership in Nebraska. In over 50 years of running the dealership, the owner would save the cars people traded in. At the time of his death he had more than 500 cars sitting on a nearby farm. The collection had to go to auction after his death because, as the saying goes, “you can’t take it with you.”

“You can’t take it with you” the proverb goes. The two most common interpretations are quite different. One is that you should spend what you have because it’s going to be of no value to you when you’re dead. The other one is don’t place excessive value into material goods because they have no eternal or everlasting value.

In the Gospel passage for today’s liturgy, Jesus invites us to reflect on how much worth we assign on material goods. He uses a parable of the rich man who had a bountiful harvest. Not having enough space in the barns, he tears them down to build larger ones. Little did he know that he would die that night and all his effort would be for naught. Jesus offers this parable in response to two brothers arguing over an inheritance. He warns against greed saying:

“Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Material possessions are not inherently bad.. Some of them are essential — food, drink, clothing, and shelter. What seems to make the difference for Jesus involves quantity and value. The parable touches on the “quantity” aspect: more is not always better. At a certain point, it gets absurd. This might be exemplified, in our day, by the explosion of storage facilities over the past 20 years. We have so much “stuff” that it won’t fit into our homes. Is there any real or lasting value to all this? Why do we think we need all this “stuff?” Are we putting too much effort into the accumulation?

The “value” question goes beyond the possessions themselves into their “place” in our lives. What “value” do we place on these material goods? On one level this might bring into question the “status” impact of accumulated wealth. The unspoken thought goes “if I have more and better things, people will think highly of me.” In this case we start to see ourselves defined by the possessions. This mindset can lead to a vicious cycle often called “keeping up with the Joneses.”

The Book of Ecclesiastes (first reading) opens with the famous line:

“Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!” This might describe the attitude of the person consumed by worldly possessions. “All his days sorrow and grief are his occupation; even at night his mind is not at rest.” Accumulation is a futile goal that will see no end.

Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Colossians (second reading), urges:

“Seek what is above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.” He says that for those who have died with Christ (through baptism and faith) have eternal life hidden within them. Although this life is unseen now it will be made visible in Christ’s triumphant return. Paul then exhorts us to put away “earthly” things. The examples he lists are immorality,  impurity, passion, evil desire, greed (which is idolatry) and deception. All these are vanity.

In this Gospel, Jesus is teaching us something about ourselves that goes well beyond possessions. He is teaching us that our value goes much deeper and way beyond our possessions. In fact, Jesus is telling us that our material wealth is not a reflection of personal value. God does not judge us by our bank account. Surely, he wants us to use the created world He gave us and to make it fruitful and beneficial to all; but our ultimate value lies in who we are — not what we earn.