All Is Vanity If We Live For This Life Only
We are merely pilgrims here on this journey. Let us not waste the time in acrimony over money and other worldly things. If we are rich, what are we doing with our riches? The wealth of all the world is the Lord’s. Let us not use it as if it belonged to us. Here is what Paul says in the second reading:
Brothers and sisters:
If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died,
and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
In the early church, baptism candidates took off their clothes and were clothed in a white garment, to signify putting off their old worldly life and putting on the things of heaven. If we want to find true happiness and fulfillment we must die to ourselves and the world and throw ourselves wholeheartedly into the arms of Jesus.
Fr. Steve reads from the last chapter of Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis, about those who are living that new life of baptism. The message is that we become more of our true selves when we give up our lives and cast ourselves freely and completely into a life-giving relationship with God, the only person who truly knows us and defines us as His sons and daughter. As C.S. Lewis urges: “Submit with every fiber of your being and you will find eternal life.”
