(Sermon for 18th Sunday July 31st) Today some people might be planning a change of wardrobe, or a change of car or completing a move to a new home. Today again some people have concluded plans to replace their flat-screen TV with the curved one or their phone with the latest one by Apple or Samsung. At the same time some people are buying new jets, commencing expensive holidays and replacing their retinue of cosmetics or jewelries. While this is going on, those who don't have these items and cannot afford them today are saving for them, or cursing heaven and earth for being unable to afford such luxuries.

What does the Holy Book exhort Christians to understand today and guard against? What exactly does God mean by vanity? what is probably the biggest lesson of today is to understand the borderline between consuming to satisfy genuine needs and consuming for consumption sake; to distinguish between needs and wants. Christians are invited to shun this bad habit of modern life and put a stop what the biggest evil of our life today.

There are many reasons why this is true. Here I will give only three namely vanity injures the soul, it constitutes a physical damage on the earth our common home and constitutes a social evil as well. Let me explain.

The soul is not a material thing and no amount of material consumption can satisfy the soul. We must not forget that as Christians our true identity is in our Soul wherein our resemblance with God lies. Being an immaterial entity it cannot be satisfied by material things. True, we need our body to house our soul and to that extent the body is important for the soul. Material things are important for a happy life. But it is not material things that can satisfy the soul. It is in fact true that the more we consume the higher the tendency to forget the soul altogether as the example of the parable today illustrates. The rich man is entirely occupies with the desires of the body and is willing to pull down his barn to make a new one, in order to give his body a new lease of life. Jesus calls him the big fool, because he misplaces his priorities.

The next point is the physical damage to the environment. We might be wondering the connection between our willingness to consume and the present danger to which the earth is exposed. Scientists talk today of global warming or the ecological damage that confront us. That the earth is in danger is something that should worry us because our common home is in danger. It is in danger because relentless exploitation of the earth, which goes on in order to feed our vanity, will continue unless we shun excessive consumption. From a common sense point of view, it will affect us in an adverse way. Manufacturing companies are continously tapping on the limited resources of the earth in such a way as to upset the delicate balance in nature. Those who manufacture items do not pay attention to this delicate balance which is the tragedy of today's world. Pope Francis, in his last encyclical Laudato Si condemned this wanton pillaging of the earth's resource. It is evil for many reasons. One the resources are limited. So relentless consumption is not sustainable. Two the future generation is endangered. What kind of people are we, if we squander everything today without paying the slightest attention to the needs of tomorrow? To be sustainable, for the earth to be able to regenerate itself we must be able to reduce our consumption. And it begins with you.

Lastly the socially damage is more. Each time we consume luxury products, that is, when we feed our vanity, we offend those who don't have. There is a relationship between us and the rest of people in the world so we cannot consume in such a way that disregards the needs of others. It is even worse when we consume luxury items when our brothers and sisters are unable to afford the basic needs of life. It is important to notice that each time we feed our vanity we generate a tension that has a chain reaction. For instance the decision of a man to change his car will increase when his neighbours have changed theirs. In other words when he wishes to do as his other neighbours to have done, and is unable to do so, jealousy will follow. Jealousy in turn will generate other forms of evil like stealing, cheating, hatred, crime etc. The earth has enough for our needs but not for our greed.

Mahatma Ghandi told a story of himself in his book MY EXPERIMENT WITH TRUTH, of how he insisted on living on the same amount of resource even though his income increased exponentially. He resisted the temptation to change his accommodation, to change his wardrobe, to change his meal for its own sake, because he understood that changing it was not important for the preservation of his soul. In this way he was happier, but even more he was able to give out the surplus to those who were less fortunate.

I have a friend who is a rich man. He owns a little car and more often rode on his bicycle. he once told me that he did not wear scents did not use branded items such as clothes, scents or house furniture, because deep down he was convinced that a happy life did not lie on what one owned or what one consumed. He needs dresses surely, but he did not have to wear M&S or Next or Vasace or all sorts of modern day brands in order not to be a slave to them.

These two examples contrasts with other two extremes such as the story of Imelda Macos or one-time Interior Minister in Nigeria. Imelda Macos, former wife of the President of Philippines, is the global face of vanity. He owned over 3,000 pairs of shoes, 4,000 handbags, 5,000 dresses and a huge number of jewelries and perfumes. Today in the Philippines her luxury possessions are now preserved in a Vanity Museum a metaphor of the deep vice of vanity when it bewitches the soul. Thank God, ticket fees to visit the Museum are slowly recovering the money she used to feed her personal vanity and some of it might be used for common good.

There was this Nigerian minister, he vanity was infinite. He had as many cars as he had suits, and he had a driver to each car numbering over 50. He went to work in the car which marched the colour of his suit. While he was doing this, millions of other people were languishing in hunger and deprivation. But the story of Imelda and the Minister find a semblance everyday around us. It might not reach that level, but at the same time it is still an offense against God, against our neighbour, against society to live in such a way that we seek to satisfy vanity.

The truth is that it is impossible to satisfy vanity. By its nature vanity is amorphous, it changed the moment we reach our new target. The satisfaction we get is only momentary. No sooner have we moved into a new home than we see a bigger one. No sooner have we bought a new car than we begin to notice bigger ones. No sooner have we changed our phone than advertisements begin to bombard our senses with new ones. In effect it is impossble to quench. As already stated the biggest lesson of today might be to know when to stop, when to say no to the relentless stirring of our soul towards a new material acquision. That desire is not true. To extinguish it today, to be more charitable in our consumption, to return to the safe haven of modesty and moderation might be the truest thing to do. This is what the Lord wants us to do today to save our lives and the world from ruin.