A Homily for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, August 10, 2025
Wisdom 18:6-9; Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22; Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19; Luke 12:32-48
Audio Recording
One of the deepest questions every person eventually confronts is this: What am I living for? What do I truly treasure? Jesus gives us a direct answer in today’s Gospel: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom.”
This should be the number one goal in life for every Christian, to live in the Kingdom of Heaven and to lead others there. Nothing else ultimately matters.
I heard a funny story about three friends who were talking about what they’d like people to say at their funerals. One said, “I’d like them to say, ‘He was a kind man who loved his family.’” Another said, “I’d like them to say, ‘She was a faithful servant of God.’” The third friend thought for a moment, then grinned and said: “I’d like them to say, ‘Hey, I think he’s moving!’”
But seriously, the real question isn’t what people will say about us at our funeral — the real question is whether or not we’ve truly been living to acquire the treasure that lasts, the Kingdom of Heaven, the only treasure we can take with us at the end of our lives.
God isn’t just offering us advice or a moral code for living our lives. He’s offering us a Kingdom, his Kingdom! He’s offering us an inheritance that will never fade. In a world full of uncertainty, Jesus tells us that heaven is our true home, and eternal life with God is the only treasure that will last.
In our First Reading from the Book of Wisdom, we are reminded of the night of the first Passover. The Israelites were still slaves in Egypt. But they stayed awake that night — not in fear, but in hope. They believed God’s promise of freedom and deliverance. We are told: “Your people awaited the salvation of the just.”
Even before God acted, they were already trusting that He would. That’s what hope looks like. They knew that their real freedom, their real future, would not be found by staying in Egypt and settling for survival. They were waiting for something better. And so are we.
Like the Israelites, we often find ourselves in situations that feel like exile: waiting, enduring, wondering what God is doing. But we’re not meant to stay stuck in this world. As Christians, we too are waiting — not passively, but actively — with hope in the promise that there is a better homeland ahead. An eternal homeland. This, my friends, is our faith, this is our hope.
The Second Reading from Hebrews gives us a powerful portrait of faith through the life of Abraham. God told Abraham to leave everything — his homeland, his relatives, his security — and follow Him to an unknown land.
Abraham obeyed, although he was no spring chicken! Abraham was 75 when God told him to pack up and go. At that age, most people are thinking about downsizing, not starting a 100-year camping trip! I don’t know what’s more amazing — Abraham’s faith, or the fact that Sarah went along with it!
Abraham lived the last half of his life as a pilgrim. He never settled. Why? Because he understood that his true inheritance wasn’t just land or family, but a future God had prepared — a heavenly homeland.
That same call to faith is for each of us. We’re tempted to think our value lies in our careers, our savings, our accomplishments, or how much control we have over our lives. But all of these are temporary. Faith shifts our eyes upward, trusting that we are citizens of heaven — and that this life is not the whole story.
When we live by this vision, it changes everything — how we spend our time, how we use our resources, how we love others, and how we endure suffering. Faith keeps us moving forward, even when the road is uncertain.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus brings the message home: “Sell your belongings and give alms… For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”
This is not about rejecting the good things of this world. It’s about not CLINGING TO THEM as if they are the ultimate good. Jesus is teaching us to hold the things of this life with open hands. Our hearts are made for more than this world can offer.
That’s why He tells us to stay awake, to be ready — not because we’re supposed to live in fear, but because we are people on a mission. We are servants waiting for the return of the Master, and our job is to be found faithful when He comes.
The surprise in today’s parable is that when the Master returns, HE SERVES his servants! This is a glimpse of heaven. When Christ returns, those who were faithful — not famous or successful by the world’s standards, but FAITHFUL — will be honored beyond imagination.
So just what does it mean to live with heaven as our treasure? It means:
- Living generously, because we know our real security is in God, not in possessions.
- Being faithful in small things, because they matter in the eyes of the Lord.
- Choosing hope over fear, because God has already promised us the Kingdom.
- Letting go of bitterness, because this life is too short to waste on grudges.
- Investing in relationships, in prayer, in acts of mercy — because those are the treasures that go with us.
Here’s the bottom line…the Gospel doesn’t ask us to run away from the world — it asks us to live in it with the eyes of faith. To use what we have for good. To live not as owners of our stuff, but as stewards. And to remember that the most important things — the love we give, the sacrifices we make, the faith we hold — all have eternal value.
Jesus is not JUST preparing a place for us in heaven — He is PREPARING US for that place. And the way we live today is part of that preparation. So don’t be afraid to let go of things that won’t last. Don’t be afraid to share your resources and live with your heart fixed on heaven. This is where your true treasure lies. This is your eternal inheritance.
So, when our own time comes, people may say many things about us — but the greatest thing they could say at our funeral is, “This one lived for the Kingdom.” And if, by God’s grace, we really have, then on that day we won’t just be “moving”… we’ll be going home.
God bless you!