18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C (2025)

Today we hear from the Book of Ecclesiastes. It’s the only Sunday of our 3-year cycle that we hear from this book. The book begins with the words: “The words of David’s son, Qoheleth, king in Jerusalem”. Long standing tradition holds that this book is possibly written by, or more likely, about Solomon, David’s son and king of Jerusalem. It’s believed to be about him, at the end of his days, asking questions about life and reflecting on how he has lived.

In the early part of his life, Solomon is said to have been a virtuous and wise man, a king. He brought peace to the people of Israel and built the Temple in Jerusalem. It started off well but went downhill. He ended up being led astray and making horrible decisions, becoming a man of many gods and many wives, a man who sought wealth and his own glory. He never recovered.

Jesus’s parable in the Gospel seems to speak of Solomon, even if he doesn’t refer to him by name: a rich man, who had so much that he didn’t know how to account for it all, aspiring only to rest, eat, drink and be merry. And as the end of the parable, the man proved to be rich, but not in what matters to God.

In Ecclesiastes Qoheleth looks back on his life, wondering what happened. It’s clear that he feels far from God; that God is distant and removed. He laments that there’s little security in life, and that the world is harsh. He also makes it clear that death is dreadful, but even worse, inevitable.

“Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!” he declares. Vanity is a translation of the Hebrew word hevel, and in this context refers to something like breath or wind: something that is there, one moment, and simply dissipates right before us…suddenly gone…like life. Qoheleth, at the end of his life, is a man of little cheer, exploring the questions that lie in every human heart.

I suspect some of us can relate. Too many of us busy ourselves and fill our lives with so much of what we’re convinced is important and even necessary. The only thing in short supply is our ability to find satisfaction in the things God provides.

There’s always more beyond our grasp, and we tell ourselves that if we can get that elusive ‘next thing’, that it will satisfy what’s lacking. And yet it proves false. We still hunger for something else. In fact, for too many of us, this restless pursuit leaves us with unhappiness, emptiness, and too often, despair. “Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!”

As I see it, ultimately, God has entrusted each of us with just a few things that are important above all others: our souls, our relationship with Him, our families and a few truly trusted friends, and our health. Those are the things that make us rich in what matters to God. Everything else belongs in a second category of importance.

With that in mind, Qoheleth also shows us one more thing that we lack: time. Too many of us put off Giving sufficient attention to the things that are of principal importance, assuming that we have more time. We’ll get to it when the time is right, or if we can just get over this next hurdle. But there’s not always more time.

So how do we avoid coming to such a bitter end like Qoheleth? Ask yourself, What—or perhaps better, who—is it, the two or three things that are most important in your life? What/who makes you rich in what matters to God?At the end of our fragile and unpredictable lives, if we are to look back, like Qoheleth/Solomon, I suspect we’ll either feel satisfaction or emptiness, to the degree we either nurture (or neglect) the things that make us rich in what matters to God.