St.Vincent De Paul
Readings:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
Luke 9:18-22
Reflection:
Today’s first reading, Ecclesiastes 3:1-11, is an expression of the ‘Wisdom’ literature of Israel in the period after the exile in Babylon. It contemplates the different stages and activities that make up our human existence, encouraging us to recognize their role in our lives. In this passage the Biblical writer does not seek to give any higher meaning to these activities – its wisdom consists in emphasizing that this is the pattern and rhythm of human life. We human beings must accept this rhythm, but only God can comprehend its higher meaning. Psalm 143 expresses a more intensely religious teaching: the Lord does not only comprehend the pattern of our lives, he is our fortress, stronghold and refuge. He loves us and cares intensely and intimately for us – this is the foundation of our lives, since otherwise we are ‘merely a breath, whose life fades like a passing shadow’. The Gospel reading, from Luke 9, expresses a key transition in Jesus’ relationship to his disciples. Peter is able to confess and recognize who Jesus truly is: the Christ, the Messiah. Yet Jesus orders his disciples not to speak of this: he knows how easily this will be misunderstood, that his Messiahship will be understood as simply a wonderful healer, or as national military leadership. He seeks to instruct his disciples in the true meaning of his Messiahship as the ‘suffering servant’ told of in the book of Isaiah.
Robert Gascoigne is a parishioner at St Brigid’s, Marrickville. He is a theologian who taught for many years at the Australian Catholic University.