18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 (JB)

A reading from the book of Ecclesiastes

What do people gain by all their work?

Vanity of vanities, the Preacher says. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity!

For so it is that a man who has laboured wisely, skilfully and successfully must leave what is his own to someone who has not toiled for it at all. This, too, is vanity and great injustice; for what does he gain for all the toil and strain that he has undergone under the sun? What of all his laborious days, his cares of office, his restless nights? This, too, is vanity.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 (NRSV)

A reading from the book of Ecclesiastes

Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher,

vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

Sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill

must leave all to be enjoyed by another

who did not toil for it.

This also is vanity and a great evil.

What do mortals get from all the toil and strain

with which they toil under the sun?

For all their days are full of pain,

and their work is a vexation;

even at night their minds do not rest.

This also is vanity.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Ps 89:3-6, 12-14, 17 (JB)

R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.

You turn men back into dust

and say: ‘Go back, sons of men.’

To your eyes a thousand years

are like yesterday, come and gone,

no more than a watch in the night. R.

You sweep men away like a dream,

like grass which springs up in the morning.

In the morning it springs up and flowers:

by evening it withers and fades. R.

Make us know the shortness of our life

that we may gain wisdom of heart.

Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?

Show pity to your servants. R.

In the morning, fill us with your love;

we shall exult and rejoice all our days.

Let the favour of the Lord be upon us:

give success to the work of our hands. R.

Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 (JB)

A reading from the letter of St Paul to Colossians

Seek the things that are above where Christ is.

Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.

That is why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life: fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god; and never tell each other lies. You have stripped off your old behaviour with your old self, and you have put on a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its creator; and, in that image there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised or the uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and free man. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 (NRSV)

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Colossians

So if you have been raised with Christ,

seek the things that are above,

where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things that are above,

not on things that are on earth,

for you have died,

and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ who is your life is revealed,

then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly:

fornication, impurity, passion,

evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.

Do not lie to one another;

seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices

and have clothed yourselves with the new self,

which is being renewed in knowledge

according to the image of its creator.

In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew,

circumcised and uncircumcised,

barbarian, Scythian,

slave and free;

but Christ is all and in all!

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Matthew 5:3 (JB)

Alleluia, alleluia!

Happy the poor in spirit;

the kingdom of heaven is theirs!

Alleluia!

Matthew 5:3 (NRSV)

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are the poor in spirit;

the kingdom of heaven is theirs!

Alleluia!

Luke 12:13-21 (JB)

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

To whom will all this wealth of yours go?

A man in the crowd said to. Jesus, ‘Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance.’ ‘My friend,’ he replied ‘who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?’ Then he said to them, ‘Watch, and be on your 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.’

Then he told them a parable: ‘There was once a rich man who, having a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to, do? I have not enough room to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say, to my soul: ‘My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.” But God said to him, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?” So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.’

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 12:13-21 (NRSV)

A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,

“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.

But Jesus said to him,

“Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?”

And Jesus said to the crowd,

“Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;

for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

Then Jesus told them a parable:

“The land of a rich man produced abundantly.

And he thought to himself,

‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’

Then he said, ‘I will do this:

I will pull down my barns and build larger ones,

and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

And I will say to my soul,

“Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years;

relax, eat, drink, be merry.”‘

“But God said to him,

‘You fool!

This very night your life is being demanded of you.

And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves

but are not rich toward God.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.