Shadowing Practice: All Things Must Pass - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Peace be with you, friends.
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Our readings for this 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, they're marvelous.
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They're about this theme that's so basic to the spiritual life, and the theme is detachment.
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I want to get into it, though, by referencing a song.
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I go on a lot of long car trips now in my diocese, so I go from Wisconsin to South Dakota,
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so I'm in the car a lot.
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And I listen to books on tape a lot—books on tape, I'm dating myself—but I have, you know, my iPhone, and I'll ask for music.
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And so I'm a big, as you know, Bob Dylan fan,
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but after Bob Dylan, probably I like the Beatles the best and a lot of classic rock, the Rolling Stones and the Who and Van Morrison.
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And, you know, that's my thing.
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Well, as you know, these machines, they learn our preferences.
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So she's listened to me, you know, asking for Beatles songs all the time.
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Now I find almost anytime I ask for a song, the second or third one that comes up afterwards is George Harrison's song,
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All Things Must Pass.
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Of course, for the young kids, ask your grandparents about George Harrison, but he was one of the Beatles.
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And right after the Beatles broke up, Harrison comes out with this marvelous double album called All Things Must Pass.
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And the title song is born of his Hindu interest.
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And it's about the even essence of everything in the world.
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All things must pass.
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So, you know, the sunset doesn't last all evening.
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The nighttime doesn't last forever.
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And then the great chorus, all things must pass.
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All things must pass away.
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It's an interesting thing.
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I hear that song so often now.
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I've gone home to my home and I have my guitar.
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I'm not a great guitar player.
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I'm like a campfire guitar player.
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But I can play songs and chords.
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And so I looked up
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All Things Must Pass.
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And it's an interesting thing that as it goes into the chorus, which is a very singable chorus, but usually as you make that transition,
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it gives you a major chord that draws everybody in.
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Well, All Things Must Pass goes to a minor chord, to B minor, as it goes into the chorus,
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which gives it that kind of moody quality.
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All things must pass.
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All things must pass away.
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Look, almost every major philosopher,
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almost every major religious figure the world over has intuited this great truth about our world.
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Good, and yes, there are good things in it, but they don't last.
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They don't endure.
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Sunset, you know, a beautiful sunset lasts for a while.
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We exult in it, and then it's gone.
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Our meal that we're enjoying immensely, and we eat it with great pleasure, and in a couple of minutes, it's gone.
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A great conversation.
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You're with a friend, and you're sharing your life at a deep level, and you're just loving this conversation,
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finding it very interesting, wonderful, and then it's over.
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Maybe, you know, most poignantly, it's with a piece of music.
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The way music is structured, not like a sculpture that you can at least see for a long time.
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Music comes and it goes, doesn't it?
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I mean, the notes flow past you, you're listening to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony or some marvelous thing, and then it's over.
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All things must pass.
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All things must pass away.
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That's life.
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Well, no. With George Harrison in mind, so those like me, old enough to remember George Harrison, but young people, ask Siri about it.
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She'll play it for you.
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With that in mind, look at our first reading from the marvelous book of Ecclesiastes.
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Vanity of vanities, says Kohaleth.
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Vanity of vanities, all things are vanity.
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Kohaleth, it's just
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Hebrew, it means like the assemblymen, something like that.
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You could say the churchman, because kahal is something like church assembly.
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So this person, this Kohalath, he's been identified in the great tradition with King Solomon,
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someone who had it all.
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Think of Solomon, the wisest, richest, most powerful figure of his time.
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His conclusion?
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All things must pass.
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Vanity of vanities.
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The Hebrew behind vanity there is very interesting.
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It's the word hebel.
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Hebel means something like wind or even like bubble.
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It sort of sounds like bubble, hebel, bubble.
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All things are like a bubble.
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Think of a bubble.
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And as it's floating there, and he goes, hey, that's beautiful.
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Look at that.
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And sometimes, you know, colors kind of play on a bubble.
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And then, like that, it's gone.
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All things pass away.
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All things pass away.
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Listen, you see, much of the book of Kohalath is simply specifying this idea, giving example upon example.
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But listen to some of them.
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Here's one who's labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and yet to another who's not labored over it, he must leave his property.
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So think of someone whose whole life has been about property
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and riches and I'm gonna work and I'm gonna get up early
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and I go to bed late and I'm gonna do whatever I can to get the biggest house and the most money.
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And then what?
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Your life, it's over, the psalmist says, like a sigh.
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I'm right, aren't I?
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Anyone old enough, you know that.
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Your life's over like a sigh.
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And you've spent all this time and energy.
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And what happens to all that stuff you piled up?
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It goes to someone who maybe never worked a day in his life.
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It's inherited by someone that you don't even know.
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All things must pass.
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All things must pass away.
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What profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart? with which he's labored under the sun.
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All his days are sorrow and grief.
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At night, his mind is not at rest.
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This also is vanity.
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I can think of all the things that we think about and worry about and fret about,
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and we're plotting and planning and trying to get this and get that and wealth and honor, and people will think highly of me,
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and I'm gonna do everything I can to get that reward, and I don't want people thinking highly of that guy.
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I want them thinking highly of me, and so I fret and I worry. And what?
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All things must pass.
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All things must pass away.
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Vanity of vanity, bubble of bubbles, everything's like a bubble.
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Okay, so you say, well, am I left in sort of despair now?
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So what's the point?
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Life just seems like it doesn't mean anything.
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No, no, no, no. Listen now to St. Paul.
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This is our second reading, Paul to the Colossians.
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If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where
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Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
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Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
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Okay, now, just to be really clear about this, this is not some despairing flight from the world spirituality.
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This is not to say, well, this life is just a waste of time,
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forget about it, and let's get up to heaven as soon as we can.
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No, no, we're playing a much more subtle game here.
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We're not saying everything in this world is bad.
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No, no, what we're saying is nothing in this world finally lasts.
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Therefore, what?
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Two things.
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wear this world lightly.
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It doesn't mean disdain it or hate it.
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It means don't cling to it.
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Don't think it's going to make you happy, because it's just like one of those, you know, those cottonwood seeds that float through the air,
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and if you try to grab it, the very act of grabbing will push it away from you.
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So, if you grasp at this world, it'll turn to dust in your fingers.
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Appreciate it.
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Love it.
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That sunset that George Harrison sings about.
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Look at it.
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Take it in.
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Beautiful, beautiful.
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Love it.
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But then let go of it.
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That's not your ultimate happiness.
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The house that you live in, that you've labored for, good.
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Enjoy it.
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Don't cling to it.
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Those honors that people give you, yeah, they're nice.
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Enjoy it, you know, for the moment, and then forget about it.
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Where should your eyes be fixed?
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Where should the eyes of your soul be fixed?
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Again, listen, if you were raised with Christ, seek what is above.
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Now, what's above?
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That means the realm of God.
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That means the good things of heaven.
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That means the permanent things.
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Following the will of God, that's where you should have your soul directed.
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Remember last week, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
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Keep yourself aligned.
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put your will within the context of God's will, keep your heart fixed above,
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then you can take in this world with the proper attitude.
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Not clinging to it desperately.
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No, no, because you know your treasure's in heaven.
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Your ultimate goal is union with God, and God does not pass away.
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God does not change.
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God is not evanescent.
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So fix your heart on God, and then you can let go of this world in the proper attitude.
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Now, with all that in mind, let's look briefly at the gospel, Jesus' great parable.
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He told him a parable.
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There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
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He asked himself, what shall I do?
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I don't have space to store my harvest.
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So here's a guy, very successful.
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We'd say today, you know, he's a private equity investor who just made tons and tons of money,
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and he's got homes and cars and vacation homes and all that.
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What will I do?
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I know I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones.
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There I shall store all my grain and all the goods and say to myself, you've got many good things stored up for years to come.
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Eat, drink, and be merry, okay?
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See, it's an image of somebody who's clinging desperately to this world,
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who's going to find his satisfaction in all the things that he possesses.
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And, you know, I'll just build a bigger barn, and there'll be more and more room, and I'll never run out.
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Think of someone saying, a billionaire, I couldn't spend all this money in a lifetime.
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I got everything I need.
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All things must pass.
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Listen, but God said to him, you fool, this night your life will be demanded of you and the things you prepared,
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to whom will they belong?
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There it is.
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My whole life's been about storing up all the goods of the world.
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You have a man, tonight, tonight you're gonna die.
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All of it's gone.
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All of it will fall into someone else's hands, someone that you don't even know, maybe.
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Listen now.
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Thus it will be for all who store up treasure for themselves, but are not rich in what matters to God.
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Now, let's get down to brass tacks as I close.
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What matters to God?
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Love.
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God is love, right?
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Heaven is the place where love obtains radically.
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That's what heaven means.
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What lasts, I'll quote
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Cardinal George again here, the only things we take with us into heaven are the things we've given away on earth.
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He doesn't mean like, okay, if I give away all these cars and houses and so I'll have them in heaven.
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What he means is it's that attitude of giving away.
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That's the substance of heaven.
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There are three things that last, right?
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St. Paul said, and that's what we want.
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All things must pass in this world.
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Okay, so what lasts?
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Paul says three things, faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love.
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Why?
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Because in heaven, I don't need faith, I'll see.
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I don't need hope because I've realized my goal.
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But what will last?
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Love.
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Love is what heaven is.
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And so look up George Harrison's song.
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Listen to it.
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Read the book of Kohalath.
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They're making the same point.
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And then say, all right, so what does last?
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Love.
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The things of heaven.
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What is above, not what's here on earth.
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Keep the eyes of your soul fix there and you'll find the treasure you're looking for.
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And God bless you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “All Things Must Pass - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: pass, heaven, bubble, vanity, listen. This video has 221 sentences and 2065 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:07. The speaker talks at a steady 146 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| vanity noun | /ˈvænəti/ | That which is vain, futile, or worthless; that which is of no value, use or profit. |
| bubble noun | /ˈbʌbəl/ | A spherically contained volume of air or other gas in a liquid, commonly a soapy liquid. |
| sunset noun | /ˈsʌnˌsɛt/ | The moment each evening when the sun disappears below the western horizon. |
| chorus verb | /ˈkɔːɹəs/ | To sing (a song), express (a sentiment), or recite or say (words) in chorus. |
| marvelous adjective | /ˈmɑɹvələs/ | Exciting wonder or surprise; astonishing; wonderful. |
| guitar noun | /ɡɪˈtɑɹ/ | A stringed musical instrument, of European origin, usually with a fretted fingerboard and six strings, played with the fingers or a plectrum (guitar pick). |
| chord noun | /kɔɹd/ | A harmonic set of three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. |
| tape noun | /teɪ̯p/ | Flexible material in a roll with a sticky surface on one or both sides; adhesive tape. |
| ton noun | /tʌn/ | The short ton of 2000 pounds (about 907 kg), 20 hundredweights of 100 pounds avoirdupois each. |
| treasure noun | /ˈtɹɛʒəɹ/ | A collection of valuable things; accumulated wealth; a stock of money, jewels, etc. |
| harvest noun | /ˈhɑɹ.vəst/ | The process of gathering the ripened crop; harvesting. |
| barn noun | [ˈbɑɹn] | A building, often found on a farm, used for storage or keeping animals such as cattle. |
| desperately adverb | /ˈdɛs.p(ə.)ɹət.li/ | In a desperate manner; without regard to danger or safety; recklessly. |
| sigh verb | /saɪ/ | To inhale a larger quantity of air than usual, and immediately expel it; to make a deep single audible respiration, especially as the result or involuntary… |
| float verb | /fləʊt/ | To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object). |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pass away verb | To die. | |
| give away verb | To make a gift of (something). | |
| look up verb | /ˌlʊk ˈʌp/ | To have better prospects. |
| break up verb | To break or separate into pieces. | |
| come out with verb | To say (something) unexpectedly. | |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. | |
| get down to verb | To start focusing on doing something serious | |
| get up verb | To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I'm not a great guitar player.
- I'm right, aren't I?
- Where should your eyes be fixed?
- Where should the eyes of your soul be fixed?
- He asked himself, what shall I do?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is born · is structured · been identified |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've gone · has intuited · he's been identified |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | chorus, which is · someone who had · someone who maybe |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 66 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: treasure /ˈtɹɛʒəɹ/, transition /tɹænˈzɪʃ.ən/, conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/, vacation /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, satisfaction /sætɪsˈfækʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: desperately /ˈdɛs.p(ə.)ɹət.li/, anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, satisfaction /sætɪsˈfækʃən/, philosopher /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/, spirituality /ˌspɪɹ.ə.t͡ʃuˈæl.ə.tɪ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like vanity, bubble, sunset.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.