The Wisdom of the Ages:
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025
August 3, 2025
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Ecclesiastes 1:2-2:32; Psalm 90; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21
The instructions within these readings are to safeguard yourself against all greed. The sage Qoheleth in Ecclesiastes speaks from a perspective of one who has lived a long life and has seen the folly of human pursuits. He recognizes the life is short, it is filled with interruptions in human plans, and the greater virtues for one to seek are contentment and gratitude. Possessing wealth is one matter; coveting it at the cost of other values does not satisfy. It is far better to seek those things that cost us little: gratitude, harmonious relationships, integrity of actions, a peaceful existence.
When we hear the word greed, we mainly think of money. Qoheleth is counseling us to let go of the illusions we hold in life. We chase illusions in our youth. There is a time and place for doing that. We grasp at them and we cannot attain them. They are like vapors, a mist in the wind. Early life illusions give us hope and purpose, and as we mature, we must see them for what they are: aspirations. The idea of “wind, spirit” is contained in the word aspiration because it is like breath – necessary for life and invisible, it is that which cannot be contained or caught. A biblical translation of the word “vanity” is “breath.” So, instead of Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, we read Breath of breaths, all is breath. So, there’s a time to let go of illusions.
An easy way to think about this is when we hear the word “should.” I am often told by others what I “should” do. Like, who says? We are told in our childhood years and teen formation, what and how we should do things. We are raised by “should.” These “shoulds” are other people’s expectations imposed upon another person. It denies a person freedom of thought and action and are a way to control other’s behaviors. When we tell others what they “should” do, we put ourselves in a place of judgment, and we are only happy if the other person does what we want them to do.
The hermeneutic, the way to perceive how we can act in freedom is through the second reading: “If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.” We are given freedom to help raise one another to a higher plane of life. We do not have to only behave the way we have been taught. Through a life with Christ, we can call each other to strive for higher values, values that are achievable through grace and through our lifting up our minds and hearts.
Think about the illusions you hold in life that may need dismantling: the idea of equal partnership, security, safety, patriotism, belonging, peace, or other ideals you hold and consider where these may have failed to satisfy. Perhaps it is time to dismantle those aspects that are illusions. The reason for this? So that we can deal with reality, not pipe dreams. When we deal with what is real, we express wisdom of the sages, the wisdom of the ages. Wisdom can be distilled from those places in life where knowledge is not enough to really explain what is happening to us. We need to grow in wisdom. Life is illusory. Let’s hold onto what is real and find our peace with it.
Scripture for Daily Mass
Monday: (Numbers 11) The children of Israel lamented, "Would that we had meat for food! We remember the fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt, and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now we are famished.
Tuesday: (Numbers 12) Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on the pretext of the marriage he had contracted with a Cushite woman. They complained, “Is it through Moses alone that the LORD speaks? Does he not speak through us also?” And the LORD heard this.
Wednesday: (Daniel 7) As I watched: Thrones were set up and the Ancient One took his throne. His clothing was bright as snow, and the hair on his head as white as wool; his throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire.
Thursday: (Numbers 20) The whole congregation of the children of Israel arrived in the desert of Zin in the first month, and the people settled at Kadesh. It was here that Miriam died, and here that she was buried.
Friday (Deuteronomy 4) Moses said to the people: "Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of?
Saturday (Deuteronomy 6) Moses said to the people: "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.
Gospel:
Monday: (Matthew 14) When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.
Tuesday: (Matthew 14) Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
Wednesday (Luke 9) Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up a mountain to pray.
While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah.
Thursday (Matthew 16) Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Friday (Matthew 16) For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.
Saturday (Matthew 17) A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said, "Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him."
Saints of the Week
August 4: John Vianney, priest (1786-1859) became the parish priest in Ars-en-Dombes where he spent the rest of his life preaching and hearing confessions. Hundreds of visitors and pilgrims visited him daily. He would hear confessions 12-16 hours per day.
August 5: Dedication of the Basilica of Mary Major in Rome is celebrated because it is the largest and oldest of the churches in honor of Mary. The veneration began in 435 when the church was repaired after the Council of Ephesus in 431 when Mary was proclaimed the Mother of God. This is the church where Ignatius of Loyola said his first Mass and where Francis of Assisi assembled the first crèche.
August 6: The Transfiguration of the Lord is an historical event captured by the Gospels when Jesus is singled out as God's Son - ranking higher than Moses or Elijah. In front of his disciples, Jesus becomes transfigured, thus revealing his true nature. Ironically, the anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb occurred at Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
August 7: Sixtus, II, pope and martyr with companions (d. 258), died during the Valerian persecutions in 258. They were killed in the catacombs where they celebrated Mass. Sixtus was beheaded while speaking in his presidential chair and six deacons were killed as well. Lawrence, the Deacon, is honored on August 10th. Sixtus is remembered during the 1st Eucharistic prayer at Mass.
August 7: Cajetan, priest (1480-1547), was a civil and canon lawyer who worked in the papal chancery. He later joined the Roman Order of Divine Love and was ordained a priest. He became aware that the church needed reform and he teamed up with the bishop of Theate (Gian Pietro Carafa) and formed a society of priests called the Theatines who lived in community and took monastic vows. They owned no property.
August 8: Dominic, priest (1170-1221), was a Spaniard who was sent to southern France to counter the heretical teachings of the Albigensians, who held that the material world was evil and only religious asceticism could combat those forces. Dominic begged and preached in an austere fashion and set the foundations for the new Order of Preachers for both men and women.
August 8: Mother Mary MacKillop, religious (1842-1909), who worked in Australia and New Zealand to assist the poor, needy, and immigrants to the country, was canonized on October 17th 2010. August 8th is chosen as the day in which she will be memorialized on the Roman calendar. I offer the following prayer:
Bountiful and loving God,
You have filled the heart of Mary MacKillop
with compassionate love for those
who are in need at the margins of our society.
Deepen that love within us
that we may embrace the mystery of the Cross
which leads us through death to life.
We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus
who having broken the bonds of death
leads us to everlasting life. Amen.
August 9: Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), martyr (1891-1942), became a Catholic convert from Judaism after reading the autobiography of Teresa of Avila. He earned a doctorate in philosophy, but was unemployable because she was a woman. She taught at a high school for eight years before entering the Carmelites in 1933 where she made final vows in 1938. She moved to Holland to escape persecution by the Nazis, but was arrested when the bishops spoke out against the persecution of the Jews.
This Week in Jesuit History
- August 3, 1553. Queen Mary Tudor made her solemn entrance into London. As she passed St Paul's School, Edmund Campion, then a boy of thirteen delivered an address.
- August 4, 1871. King Victor Emmanuel signed the decree that sanctioned the seizure of all of the properties belonging to the Roman College and to S. Andrea.
- August 5, 1762. The Parliament at Paris condemned the Society's Institute as opposed to natural law. It confiscated all Jesuit property and forbade the Jesuit habit and community life.
- August 6, 1552. The death of Claude Jay, a French priest who was one of Ignatius' original companions at the University of Paris.
- August 7, 1814. The universal restoration of the Society of Jesus.
- August 8, 1604. St Peter Claver takes his first vows at Tarracona.
August 9, 1762. The moving of the English College from St Omers to Liege.
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