Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

“Vanity”
by C. Allen Gilbert, 1892

Readings for Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
 
Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth,
vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!
What profit has man from all the labor
which he toils at under the sun?
One generation passes and another comes,
but the world forever stays.
The sun rises and the sun goes down;
then it presses on to the place where it rises.
Blowing now toward the south, then toward the north,
the wind turns again and again, resuming its rounds.
All rivers go to the sea,
yet never does the sea become full.
To the place where they go,
the rivers keep on going.
All speech is labored;
there is nothing one can say.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing
nor is the ear satisfied with hearing.
 
What has been, that will be;
what has been done, that will be done.
Nothing is new under the sun.
Even the thing of which we say, “See, this is new!”
has already existed in the ages that preceded us.
There is no remembrance of the men of old;
nor of those to come will there be any remembrance
among those who come after them.
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Commentary on Eccl 1:2-11
 
The book of Ecclesiastes is concerned with the purpose of human existence. In these introductory verses the author, Qoheleth (thought to be Solomon by some scholars), reflects upon the timelessness of creation, and the continuity of human activity (“Nothing is new under the sun [on earth]”). The futility of man's attempt at revelation leads later into the unknowable nature of God’s plan.
 
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17bc
 
R. (1) In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
 
You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
 
You make an end of them in their sleep;
the next morning they are like the changing grass,
Which at dawn springs up anew,
but by evening wilts and fades.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
 
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
 
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
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Commentary on Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17bc
 
The psalm in its entirety is a communal lament. The strophes in this selection reflect on the mortality of humanity, and the brevity of human life. (It is also an example of the human understanding that God’s immortal view of time is not like ours.) The sense of human mortality and the questioning nature of the strophes echo the thoughts of Qoheleth (Solomon) in Ecclesiastes 1:2-11.
 
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Gospel: Luke 9:7-9
 
Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening,
and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying,
“John has been raised from the dead”;
others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”;
still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.”
But Herod said, “John I beheaded.
Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”
And he kept trying to see him.
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Commentary on Lk 9:7-9
 
This passage from St. Luke’s Gospel begins a section that assembles incidents from the life of the Lord. In this introduction, King Herod asks the question, “Who then is this about whom I hear such things?” The proposed identities of Jesus coincide directly with the later report of the disciples to Jesus in Luke 9:18-19. Confusion about Jesus’ identity will be clarified in the subsequent passages as his divinity is revealed.
 
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Reflection:
 
In our constant struggle to understand God’s will for us, we often feel the desperate emotion expressed in the first readings from Ecclesiastes: “Even the thing of which we say, ‘See, this is new!’ has already existed in the ages that preceded us.” We see the events unfold in the Gospel and say to ourselves, “I see what this means.” Or “This must apply to my life this way.” Yet we realize later, especially when reading works of the Patristic Fathers, that our revelation was nothing new, and the question we had answered for ourselves had been answered more thoroughly thousands of years before.
 
The great advantage we have over poor Qoheleth, the author of Ecclesiastes, is that Jesus came to reveal more perfectly God’s intent. While the ultimate plan of God remains unknowable, our intended role in that plan is revealed, in part, by the way Jesus lived his human life, and commanded his disciples to act. In turn, those disciples took what Jesus gave, recorded it in Sacred Scripture, and passed it on through people of deep faith, so that we might understand more clearly our own role in God’s eternal plan.
 
Is our role in God’s plan perfectly clear? In all but extraordinary cases, the answer is no. Our role, the part he intends for us to play, is revealed only slowly, and sometimes only in retrospect. For our part, we are cast in a role something like Herod in the Gospel from Luke today. We want to understand who Jesus is (in our lives), and how we need to apply what he asks of us. Unlike Herod, who is driven by intense guilt over having ordered the death of St. John the Baptist in a lust-filled moment, we seek Christ knowing his divine nature, with faith in his infinite love and mercy.
 
We pledge this day to continue to seek what Jesus calls us to be. Understanding our great flaws and weakness, we nonetheless apply ourselves to discipleship as best we can. We have faith that, in the final judgment, we will be shown the love and mercy we deserve by the one who came so those flaws and weaknesses might be washed away, and we will enjoy the promise our Savior came to make.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “Vanity” by C. Allen Gilbert, 1892.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.