First reading Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8
Remember your creator in the days of your youth
Rejoice in your youth, you who are young;
let your heart give you joy in your young days.
Follow the promptings of your heart
and the desires of your eyes.
But this you must know: for all these things God will bring you to judgement.
Cast worry from your heart,
shield your flesh from pain.
Yet youth, the age of dark hair, is vanity. And remember your creator in the days of your youth, before evil days come and the years approach when you say, ‘These give me no pleasure’, before sun and light and moon and stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;
the day when those who keep the house tremble
and strong men are bowed;
when the women grind no longer at the mill,
because day is darkening at the windows
and the street doors are shut;
when the sound of the mill is faint,
when the voice of the bird is silenced,
and song notes are stilled,
when to go uphill is an ordeal
and a walk is something to dread.
Yet the almond tree is in flower,
the grasshopper is heavy with food
and the caper bush bears its fruit,
while man goes to his everlasting home. And the mourners are already walking to and fro in the street
before the silver cord has snapped,
or the golden lamp been broken,
or the pitcher shattered at the spring,
or the pulley cracked at the well,
or before the dust returns to the earth as it once came from it, and the breath to God who gave it.
Vanity of vanities, the Preacher says. All is vanity.
Responsorial Psalm 89(90):3-6,12-14,17
O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.
You turn men back to dust
and say: ‘Go back, sons of men.’
To your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday, come and gone,
no more than a watch in the night.
You sweep men away like a dream,
like the grass which springs up in the morning.
In the morning it springs up and flowers:
by evening it withers and fades.
Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?
Show pity to your servants.
In the morning, fill us with your love;
we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Let the favour of the Lord be upon us:
give success to the work of our hands.
Gospel Luke 9:43-45
They were afraid to ask him what he meant
At a time when everyone was full of admiration for all he did, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘For your part, you must have these words constantly in your mind: “The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men.”’ But they did not understand him when he said this; it was hidden from them so that they should not see the meaning of it, and they were afraid to ask him about what he had just said.
_______________________________
Driven to do God’s will
In today’s gospel, Jesus was not affected by human praises. He knew that the purpose of His coming was to do God’s will, not to seek pleasure in the admiration of human beings. He came to reveal, through His words and actions, that God is love. Because of His radical message, the Jewish authorities felt threatened by Him. He kept doing God’s will even though He knew it would lead Him to His death. Jesus invites us not to work for human approval but to be motivated by the desire to do God’s will and live in harmony with His purpose for our lives, even if this path leads us to rejection and suffering.
The disciples did not understand what He meant about being delivered into the power of men. They were afraid to know its meaning. We too are afraid sometimes to stand at the threshold of suffering. Yet, we know that we are not alone in our suffering and fragility because God is with us and His love sustains us.
Reflective question:
What motivates me to do what I do- to have the admiration of others or to please God?
What motivates me to do what I do- to have the admiration of others or to please God?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
