Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 / Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 / Luke 12:13-21
It is said that in order to understand what life is about, we may have to visit these three places: the hospital, the prison and the cemetery.
At the hospital, we will understand that nothing is more beautiful than health.
At the prison, we will see that freedom is a very precious thing.
At the cemetery, we will realize that the ground we walk on today will be our roof tomorrow.
Of these three places, the cemetery may be the quietest, but the message from the graves may be the loudest, if only we want to listen.
The words engraved on the tombstones, form an epitaph, and they tell us something about the now and the beyond. And here are some examples:
- Prepare yourself to follow me
- I was hoping for a pyramid
- He left behind a lot of stuff and no one knows what to do with it.
Of course, those are one of a kind epitaphs, a bit funny, but they tell us a lot about life and what happens after death.
But even with these messages from the graves, we live like as if we will never die, and we work like as if we want to build pyramids to reach the sky.
The 1st reading calls that the vanity of vanities, and even going on to say that all is vanity. For so it is that a man who has labored wisely, skillfully and successfully must leave what is his own to someone who has not toiled for it.
That’s a rather grim reminder for us that we came into this world naked and with nothing, and we won’t be able to bring anything with us when we have to leave this world.
So if one leaves behind a lot of stuff, useful or not, the epitaph might just read “Here lies the garang-guni man” (rag-and-bone collector)
Or if one leaves behind a lot of wealth and riches, now what would the epitaph read? “Here lies the Rich man”? or “Here lies the Miser”? or “Here lies the Hoarder”? There are so many nouns that can be used.
But the gospel tells us what such a person is called. Such a person is called “Fool”.
Jesus told a parable about a rich man who had a good harvest, and not having enough storage, he wanted to build bigger barns to store his crops.
He envisaged his barns to be like pyramids reaching sky-high. And then he dreams of enjoying life – taking things easy, eat, drink and having a good time.
But that dream turned into a nightmare when God said to him: Fool! This very night, the demand will be made of your soul, and this hoard of yours, whose will be it then?
So the epitaph on that rich man’s tomb will just have this 4-letter word – FOOL
It is such a sad end, but as Jesus warns us, so it is when a man stores up treasure for himself, instead of making himself rich in the eyes of God.
But the question is not about riches; rather the problem is greed, and Jesus tells us to be on our guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.
Riches and wealth and possessions don’t give us security. And God wants us to live simply and humbly.
To live simply and humbly would be like what the 2nd reading tells us, that we have been brought back to true life in Christ, and that our thoughts are to be of things above, and not of the things of earth.
And when the demand is made of our souls, we pray that neither God nor anyone would call us “Fool”.
Well, one morning, something like 120 years ago, a man opened the newspapers and he happened to glance at the obituaries.
That was before they started putting photos in the obituaries.
He was shocked to see his name in the column.
The newspapers had carelessly reported his death in place of his brother who had just passed away.
Anyway, the man continued reading the obituary, and from shock, he became shell-shocked.
For the first time in his life, he saw himself as others saw him.
Because the obituary described him as the “dynamite king” who had spent his life making instruments of death and destruction.
That morning, that man, whose name is Alfred Nobel, resolved to change his image and his life.
His resolution resulted in the annual Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and world peace.
So, from meaningless death-dealing, Alfred Nobel became a life-giving person, and till today he is remembered for that.
So when life is over and done, may God nor others not call us “Fool”.
Rather may we be known as a person who is life-giving, who lived simply and humbly, and was rich in the eyes of God.