July 30, 2025

Dear Parishioners,

Today’s readings emphasize the fleeting nature of life and human toil. Vanity of vanities, says Qoheloth, in the first reading, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! These words speak to the frustration of laboring hard for our goods and possessions when we know we will eventually leave this earth without them. 

The Gospel addresses this same querying of “ultimate meaning.” Why do we work so hard when everything is fleeting? Why do we labor when, as Jesus intimates in the Gospel, this night our lives could be demanded of us?

The man in Jesus’ parable would probably answer the question of “why work?” (apart from the necessity of providing for oneself and participating in society) with the conviction that we work in order to enjoy the fruit of our labor. This seems to be what motivates him. He amasses wealth so as to rest, eat, drink, be merry! But, in his parable, Jesus points out that all can disappear in the blink of an eye. And then what? 

The crux of the parable is that although all those good things might seem to make a good life, they are not what our work should be about. 

The real fruit of our work, which should be our focus, is the person we become, the person who will go on to meet God face to face. For that is what matters to God. The way we treat the people with whom we interact at work, the way we choose how much of ourselves we pour out at work – all of these shape us. 

The Catechism says: “By enduring the hardship of work in union with Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth and the one crucified on Calvary, man collaborates in a certain fashion with the Son of God in his redemptive work. He shows himself to be a disciple of Christ by carrying the cross, daily, in the work he is called to accomplish. Work can be a means of sanctification and a way of animating earthly realities with the Spirit of Christ” (#2427). 

Work can be redemptive, sanctifying. It can provide opportunities to sacrifice for love of others; to carry our cross; to grow in charity; to forgive those who wrong us; and to bring the light of Christ into meetings, discussions, and decision-making, if we so choose.

Whether or not we are currently in the workforce, we all work in some fashion. And while, yes, the fruit of our work includes financial resources for ourselves and our families, all of that is a means to a greater end: growing in love and knowledge of God that we may live with him for eternity. As we go about this work, let us do so striving to grow in holiness, that we may become rich in what matters to God. 

God Love Ya,
Fr. Reilly