SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News. 2TIM 1:10

ECCLESIASTES 11:9--12:8

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

So many of us fritter away our youth on useless pastimes and pay little heed on the things that are eternal. To the young old age is a distant dream and so little thought is given to store up things that moths do not destroy nor rust corrode.

Parents who fail to prune the young vine, neglect to nourish the impressionable mind with wisdom and truth from the Word of Life and fail to help them to walk in the Way that leads to Life and proclaim the Good News that saves, do their children a great disservice. They set them up for failure when the time of youth, which is as fleeting as quicksilver, is upon them they are ill-equipped to withstand the trials and difficulties that come with the onset of old age. They grow to be querulous and cantankerous for they are not rooted in a robust faith that would have helped them withstand testing times with grace and fortitude. 

When the vigor and beauty of youth have fled, when limbs tremble, sight is dim, and hearing is dull, a strong tried and tested faith in the God of love will light the last stage of our life with fervent hope in the things to come.

PSALM 90:3-6, 12-14, 17

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

For so many in the world grinding poverty and misery are all they have to look forward to day in and day out. Those who are sick with debilitating illnesses are sometimes frustrated by the limitations that keep them dependant on others for all their needs - to these a day will seem like a thousand years. Those who are well, healthy, have sufficient for their daily needs and more, have times of leisure filled with pleasurable pastimes find the hours and days fly like a weaver's shuttle. 

For each of these time is relative - slow and painful to those in misery and swift to those who are well in mind, body, and spirit. But to You, Beloved, who is outside space and time as the psalmist says, a thousand years are no more than a watch in the night. You are the hope and refuge of people in all generations. 

Time whether it seems slow or swift will finally come to an end for all. In the end, our flesh will decay and return to the dust from where it came. Grant us wisdom, O Lord, to know that whether we live for a short while or a great many years ultimately we will take our last breath and will have to stand before God our Maker who will judge us. May we use this time that is granted to us to bear good fruit that will last for regret is a useless, bitter, and barren tree. 

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.

LUKE 9:43-45

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

There are times in our life when we are caught up in the excitement of sheer living, all we do is successful, the people we love are thriving and happy, and we are content. No cloud mars our horizon and all is well in our world. When life appears free of any real trial or difficulty we pray that nothing will disturb the happy tenor of our lives. So it was with Your disciples. They were basking in Your reflected glory. They thought they had found the good life with You, the miracle worker, the healer, the provider of bread, the great teacher, and preacher who was followed everywhere by adoring crowds. But You knew it would all end and to prepare them You revealed what was to happen to You, what would soon take place, ‘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.” 

No one likes to face the truth and so we try our best to ignore it or shut it out. Like the disciples, we understand dimly but are afraid to know fully we don't want the good times to end. We prefer ignorance to the truth. But the fact is that unless we die we cannot truly live. And this is the truth we all must face, unless we walk the way of Calvary, crucifixion, and death we can have no share in Your resurrection.