Word to the Wise
Thursday, September 22, 2016 - Thursday in the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
[Eccl/Qoh 1:2-11 and Luke 9:7-9]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. [Ecclesiastes/Qoheleth]
Wisdom comes in many forms in the Bible. The Book of Ecclesiastes (not to be confused with Ecclesiasticus) has a profoundly pessimistic tone to it, yet there is wisdom in it worth our consideration, since the Holy Spirit is involved in all of scripture! Today's passage could make us wonder what the value of any human achievement is! Tomorrow's passage will be more familiar.
Current polls and sociological surveys reveal the existence of an outlook among many in our culture, especially the young, that very little can be achieved by any institution, even the Church. This pessimism is not helped by the ideological stalemate in our national congress or the current political campaign for the presidency. Qoheleth may play into that pessimism by his advice that we should simply enjoy what we have now and forget about the past or the future! This advice has its positive side as we know from those who must live day to day with addiction recovery. It would also find a place among those who do are suffering in the conflict in the Middle East or who are on subsistence wages and cannot image a future for themselves beyond the next day!
What Qoheleth touches is a current of feeling we need to be aware of. His vision is not the ultimate vision of our faith, but it is an acknowledgment of how far we still have to go. AMEN
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