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| “Vanity” by C. Allen Gilbert, 1892 |
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 new
under the sun. [on earth]”). This futility 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.” Only to find
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 Apostles 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
that role perfectly clear? In all but extraordinary cases, the answer is no.
Our role in God’s plan, 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), how we need to apply what he asked of us. Unlike Herod who is
driven by intense guilt over having ordered the death of St. John
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 from 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
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture is “Vanity” by C. Allen Gilbert, 1892
[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
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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