Word to the Wise
Thursday, September 24, 2020 - 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. 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. [Ecclesiastes]
Ecclesiastes, also known as Qoheleth, seems to be a rather pessimistic character. But he does have some great moments as we will see on Friday. In the meantime, we might be thinking (after hearing the passage assigned for today), "Who invited him?" Yet, he does prompt an important perspective - one that we may not consider unless we read National Geographic or watch the history channel.
Hard as it is to consider, history records the rise and fall of many an empire! Archaeologists seem to unearth new ones from time to time, but just thinking about the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Romans, Aztecs, Incas and others could make us uneasy. The current pandemic demonstrates that an invisible-to-the-eye virus can bring even the best societies to their knees. The introduction of European illnesses in the New World virtually destroyed native empires. At one time even the pyramids of Egypt were covered with sand!! A visit to a planetarium with the huge numbers and space that are thrown at one and the realization that we humans are relative "newcomers" on this planet and in the universe, can lend some punch to Ecclesiastes' somewhat cynical words.
The great French Dominican preacher in the 19th century, Lacordaire, once wrote, "All I know of tomorrow is that providence will rise before the sun." We may disagree with Ecclesiastes about whether or not something is "new," but we can, as a matter of faith, believe that God's providence continues to work anew each day. Isaiah gives us a response, "See I am doing something new! Can you not see it?" [Isaiah 43:19] AMEN
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