Priest
Biographical Information about St. Vincent de Paul[1]
Readings for Saturday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1: Ecclesiastes 11:9—12:8
Qoheleth reflects upon the passage of life and enjoins the young to enjoy their youth but follow God’s law because, in the end, they will be held accountable. He goes into an account of the loss of pleasure as death approaches and once more announces that all human efforts are vanity in the face of God’s plan and power.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
(Psalm and response are repeated from 2 days ago; Thursday of the Twenty Fifth Week in Ordinary Time) 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 links nicely to the first reading as does the questioning nature of the strophes.
Gospel: Luke 9:43b-45
Jesus begins this second announcement of his coming passion using language that would have evoked a sense of the holy as his words (literally; “lay these words within your ears.”) would be reminiscent of Exodus 17:14b. “…meaning; Think seriously about what you have seen and heard, for my life is moving determinately to a violent death. handed over: From Isaiah 53: 12 (LXX) the fourth song of the suffering servant.”[3] The fact that the disciples “…should not understand it” was not seen as a defect of belief on their part, but rather as necessary (not yet time) in the plan of revelation.
Reflection:
We struggle sometimes with the question; “How much of what happens in our lives is planned, preordained, and how much is cause and effect?” It is clear, reading the words of Qoheleth in Ecclesiastes, that he believes much of what transpires is eminent – that any struggle against the inevitable is futile (vanity). While Qoheleth speaks from the perspective of God’s “unknowable” plan, Jesus, in St. Luke’s Gospel” sees the path ahead of himself clearly. Like the Chess Master, the Lord sees the “end game” laid out before him.
For us what is important about Jesus’ foreknowledge is that it is one more proof of his divinity. Remember, this is not the first time he has related these future events. He does it this time making clear reference to historical predictions as he uses language that must feel to his audience as if the great Prophet Isaiah was speaking to them. But, according to St. Luke, this reference did not make things clear. Rather the opposite. Perhaps it was because they were afraid or perhaps it was because they did not want to understand that the Lord was not speaking figuratively or like Daniel, in visionary terms, highly symbolic, but literally. What ever the case or purpose, they did not grasp what was to come.
We also struggle with what the Lord tries to tell us. We pray, we read the Word of God, we meditate upon what has happened in our lives and try to create a pleasing path forward through our own attempts to follow Jesus’ example. Yet we do not know what God has planned for us or how that plan might be made known.
What is clear to us is that God made us in His image and likeness. In doing so he gave us free will to make decisions, to choose our path for good or ill. While, in His omnipotence, the Lord knows our choices in advance, He does not choose for us nor force a path upon us. He accepts our choices as part of his creation. He loves us unconditionally and always gives us a way back to him when we choose incorrectly.
Today we take exception to Qoheleth. Our lives are not in vain and, while our life on earth is indeed finite and we will return to God; “And the dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the life breath returns to God who gave it.” What we do with that life can be rich and beautiful as God intended and we can choose a path of peace thanks to His Only Son – Jesus.
Pax
[1] The picture used today is “St. Vincent de Paul” artist and date are UNKNOWN
[2] ALTRE
[3] See Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 44:92.
Biographical Information about St. Vincent de Paul[1]
Readings for Saturday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1: Ecclesiastes 11:9—12:8
Qoheleth reflects upon the passage of life and enjoins the young to enjoy their youth but follow God’s law because, in the end, they will be held accountable. He goes into an account of the loss of pleasure as death approaches and once more announces that all human efforts are vanity in the face of God’s plan and power.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
(Psalm and response are repeated from 2 days ago; Thursday of the Twenty Fifth Week in Ordinary Time) 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 links nicely to the first reading as does the questioning nature of the strophes.
Gospel: Luke 9:43b-45
Jesus begins this second announcement of his coming passion using language that would have evoked a sense of the holy as his words (literally; “lay these words within your ears.”) would be reminiscent of Exodus 17:14b. “…meaning; Think seriously about what you have seen and heard, for my life is moving determinately to a violent death. handed over: From Isaiah 53: 12 (LXX) the fourth song of the suffering servant.”[3] The fact that the disciples “…should not understand it” was not seen as a defect of belief on their part, but rather as necessary (not yet time) in the plan of revelation.
Reflection:
We struggle sometimes with the question; “How much of what happens in our lives is planned, preordained, and how much is cause and effect?” It is clear, reading the words of Qoheleth in Ecclesiastes, that he believes much of what transpires is eminent – that any struggle against the inevitable is futile (vanity). While Qoheleth speaks from the perspective of God’s “unknowable” plan, Jesus, in St. Luke’s Gospel” sees the path ahead of himself clearly. Like the Chess Master, the Lord sees the “end game” laid out before him.
For us what is important about Jesus’ foreknowledge is that it is one more proof of his divinity. Remember, this is not the first time he has related these future events. He does it this time making clear reference to historical predictions as he uses language that must feel to his audience as if the great Prophet Isaiah was speaking to them. But, according to St. Luke, this reference did not make things clear. Rather the opposite. Perhaps it was because they were afraid or perhaps it was because they did not want to understand that the Lord was not speaking figuratively or like Daniel, in visionary terms, highly symbolic, but literally. What ever the case or purpose, they did not grasp what was to come.
We also struggle with what the Lord tries to tell us. We pray, we read the Word of God, we meditate upon what has happened in our lives and try to create a pleasing path forward through our own attempts to follow Jesus’ example. Yet we do not know what God has planned for us or how that plan might be made known.
What is clear to us is that God made us in His image and likeness. In doing so he gave us free will to make decisions, to choose our path for good or ill. While, in His omnipotence, the Lord knows our choices in advance, He does not choose for us nor force a path upon us. He accepts our choices as part of his creation. He loves us unconditionally and always gives us a way back to him when we choose incorrectly.
Today we take exception to Qoheleth. Our lives are not in vain and, while our life on earth is indeed finite and we will return to God; “And the dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the life breath returns to God who gave it.” What we do with that life can be rich and beautiful as God intended and we can choose a path of peace thanks to His Only Son – Jesus.
Pax
[1] The picture used today is “St. Vincent de Paul” artist and date are UNKNOWN
[2] ALTRE
[3] See Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 44:92.
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