Daily Mass Readings, 9-26-02, Optiional Sts. Cosmas and Damian

Reading I
Eccl 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.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 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.

Gospel
Lk 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.

From The Word Among Us

Thursday, September 26, 2002

Meditation
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11

All is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

These verses sound like they were written by someone who was severely depressed or having a mid-life crisis. “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Yet all of us know the tiring round of routine. For instance, what mother doesn’t flag as she changes her baby’s diaper for the umpteenth time?

Life can seem like an endless cycle of mundane tasks, with seasons coming and going. Yet, whether it is the teenager asking “Who am I?” or the elderly person evaluating a long life, we all benefit from stepping back to reflect on the overall meaning of our lives, even of life in general. This is what Qoheleth, the author of Ecclesiastes, was prodding his readers to do.

By his questioning, he raised valid questions that compel us to seek God’s intentions for our lives. Qoheleth’s relentless observations drive us to seek a broader perspective, a way to make sense of it all. What is life all about? What makes for happiness and success?

Countless self-help books address these questions, offering advice about priorities, goals, and self-assessment. But if we want eternal answers, we must go to Jesus. He will lead us into a vibrant relationship with Almighty God. He will show us how to see the often dreary cycles of life from the perspective of God’s gracious plan and that in this plan, every person is unique and indispensable, and every moment of our existence has intrinsic value. No act we perform out of love for God is useless “vanity”! Doing accounts, driving for a carpool, making dinner—every ordinary action can become an outward expression of love for God and, even better, an outward reflection of the glory of God.

All of us sometimes experience our days as drab and meaningless and need a new outlook on life. Let’s seek it by asking the Lord to give us the big picture, along with a fresh outpouring of himself. Then, everything will take on a different perspective, and we will see how all things work for good for those who love God.

“Father, thank you for offering me a heavenly perspective that lightens my burdens and gives me hope. Jesus, help me to trust you and cast all my cares on you today.”

Any thoughts on vanity today?

Quite a few actually. Vanity has somewhat become the trademark of our society. It's one thing to enhance and celebrate beauty, it's another to cotton-candy-ize the environment around us. So much of "talk about" is hot air. There's no substance. It's whipped and spun, all empty. Then there's that megalomaniac in Los Angeles...

True confessions of a woman...the daily routine of making oneself presentable and spending the time to enhance what is already there, IMO, is not in the same league as building monuments to oneself. Because if it is, I need to go to Confession.

Catholic Online Saints

Sts. Cosmas & Damian

Feastday: September 26 Patron of Druggist

Sts. Cosmas and Damian were brothers, born in Arabia, who had become eminent for their skill in the science of medicine. Being Christians, they were filled with the spirit of charity and never took money for their services. At Egaea in Cilicia, where they lived, they enjoyed the highest esteem of the people. When the persecution under Diocletian broke out, their very prominence rendered them marked objects of persecution. Being apprehended by order of Lysias, governor of Cilicia, they underwent various torments about the year 283. Their feast day is September 26th. They are patron saints of pharmacists.

Any pharmacists out there?

Herod's Opinion of Jesus

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Commentary:

7-9. Except for the Sadducees, all Jews believed in the resurrection of the dead, as revealed by God in Sacred Scripture (cf. Ezekiel 37:10; Daniel 12:2 and 2 Maccabees 7:9). It was also commonly believed by Jews at the time that Elijah or some other prophet had to appear again (Deuteronomy 19:15). This may have been why Herod began to think that perhaps John had come back to life (Matthew 14:1-2 and Mark 6:14-16), particularly since Jesus worked miracles and people thought this power was the prerogative of those who had risen from the dead. And yet he was aware that Christ was working miracles even before John died (cf. John 2:23); therefore, at first, he was disconcerted. Later, as the fame of Christ's miracles spread, to have some sort of adequate explanation he decided, as the other Gospels tell us, that John must indeed have risen.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.

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