💖 HOMILY - SEPTEMBER 24 💖

First Reading - Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 

Gospel - Luke 9:7-9

We spend much of our lives searching for something that will make us happy and fulfilled. We work, achieve, earn, travel, build relationships and seek recognition. Yet sometimes, after achieving what we wanted, we still feel that something is missing. Today's readings invite us to ask a deeper question: What truly gives meaning to our life?

The first reading from Ecclesiastes begins with the striking words, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” The author looks at human life and observes that everything seems to pass away. One generation comes and another goes; the sun rises and sets; the wind blows; rivers continue to flow. Yet nothing seems to change permanently.

The problem is not that work, relationships or material things have no value. Rather, the author is reminding us that if we make these things the ultimate purpose of our life, they cannot give us lasting fulfilment. Everything created is temporary. What we possess today will eventually pass away.

The Gospel gives us an interesting example of someone searching for meaning. Herod hears about everything that Jesus is doing and becomes perplexed. He asks, “Who then is this about whom I hear such things?” He wants to see Jesus.

Herod has power, wealth and position, but he is still searching. He has heard about Jesus, but he does not yet understand who Jesus truly is. His curiosity does not automatically lead him to faith.

This can happen to us as well. We may hear about Jesus, speak about him and even be interested in him, but the important question is whether we allow that encounter to transform our lives.

The message of today's readings is not that everything in this world is meaningless. Rather, they invite us to distinguish between what is temporary and what is eternal. If we build our identity only on success, possessions, recognition or human achievements, eventually we will discover that they cannot satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts.

Only God can give our lives a lasting foundation.

Herod wanted to see Jesus, but curiosity was not enough. We too are invited to go beyond curiosity and ask: Who is Jesus for me? What place does he have in my life? Am I allowing his presence to give direction and meaning to my choices?

Perhaps today we need to slow down and ask ourselves what we are really pursuing. Are we simply moving from one achievement to another, always looking for the next thing that will make us happy? Or are we building our lives around something that lasts?

The author of Ecclesiastes reminds us that much of what we pursue will eventually pass away. The Gospel reminds us that Jesus is the one whom we must seek and come to know.

Let us therefore not allow our lives to become a cycle of working, achieving and accumulating without discovering their deeper purpose. May we seek Christ above all things and allow him to give meaning to everything else we do.

Because when Christ becomes the centre of our lives, even the ordinary things we do can become meaningful, and what seems temporary can be offered for something eternal.