A Homily for Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Friday, August 7, 2026
Prince of Peace Catholic Church – 8:00 Mass
Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7; Deuteronomy 32:35cd-36ab, 39abcd, 41; Matthew 16:24-28
Audio Recording
My wife, Christine, loves estate sales. In fact, most weeks after Friday morning Mass, there’s a pretty good chance she’ll be heading to one or two. She enjoys the hunt because you never know what treasure she’ll find tucked away on a shelf or hidden in a corner. Sometimes she even finds a piece of furniture that we just “had to have!”
Whenever I’ve gone with her, I always come home thinking about something entirely different than the bargains on display.
As I walk through an estate sale, I see someone’s lifetime on display. The dining room table where birthdays were celebrated. The tools that repaired a home. The books, the photographs, the china, the golf clubs. Everything that once meant so much to a family now has a small price tag attached to it, while strangers wander through the house looking for a great deal.
It reminds me that none of us can take any of these things with us. That is exactly the question Jesus places before His disciples today: “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”
Jesus is not condemning possessions. He isn’t saying it’s wrong to own a home, save for retirement, or enjoy the blessings God has given us. He’s not critical of our collections or our hobbies. He is, however, asking us to consider a deeper question: What are you investing your life in?
The first reading from Nahum makes the same point. Nineveh was one of the greatest cities in the ancient world. It seemed wealthy, powerful, and untouchable. Yet because of its pride and injustice, it became a ruin. History reminds us that even the greatest civilizations rise and fall. Only the Kingdom of God endures forever.
I’ve never heard anyone leave a funeral talking about the furniture, the golf clubs, or the china someone owned. They talk about the person’s kindness, generosity, faith, and love.
They remember the one who visited them in the hospital, encouraged them when they were struggling, or quietly helped someone in need.
At the end of life, people remember much less about what we collected than about what we gave. Jesus says that the Son of Man “will repay everyone according to his conduct.” He doesn’t simply ask what we SAY we value. He looks at how we LIVE. Our CONDUCT reveals what our hearts truly treasure.
So what does this mean for us today?
First, I suggest that we take inventory of our heart as carefully as we take inventory of our finances. Let’s ask ourselves, “Am I investing my life in things that will matter forever?”
Second, don’t overlook the value of small sacrifices. Every time we choose patience over irritation, forgiveness over resentment, generosity over selfishness, or prayer over distraction, we are investing in something that death can never take away.
Finally, remember that the greatest inheritance we leave our families is not what they receive after we die. It is the faith they saw us live while we were alive.
The next time Christine comes home from another estate sale with a wonderful bargain, I’ll probably still be thinking about the lesson those sales quietly teach. They remind me of Jesus’ question: “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”
When we come forward for Communion today, the Lord gives us the one treasure that never fades, never depreciates, and can never be left behind. He gives us Himself. If Christ becomes the greatest treasure of our lives, then no matter what we leave behind one day, we will possess the one thing that lasts forever. That is an inheritance the world can never take away and no estate sale can ever put a price tag on.
God bless you.