Word to the Wise
Saturday, September 27, 2014 - Saturday in the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
[Eccl/Qoh 11:9-12:8 and Luke 9:43b-45]Rejoice, O young man, while you are young and let your heart be glad i the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart, the vision of your eyes; yet understand that as regards all this God will bring you to judgment. Ward off grief from your heart and put away trouble from your presence, though the dawn of youth is fleeting. [Ecclesiastes]
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2014 ST. VINCENT DE PAUL
I spent many happy years in campus ministry and I still love to be around a university campus. The presence of the students is "contagious" and has a way of keeping one "young at heart." They are a kind of "living future." Some of my student parishioners have become close friends of mine and I have been able to share in the future that they are now experiencing as professionals and parents - some for nearly 40 years. It is a wonderful experience of faith and challenge. Qoheleth today makes me think of this, although he is rather somber about life. He almost says, "Don't grow old!"
A few days ago I was at the home of one young couple whose wedding I celebrated some years ago. They were both former student parishioners of mine. They now have two young sons. We were looking at photographs of retreats during my time as their pastor and identifying the various individuals and trying to remember the experiences. Yes, it was "the way they were," but the way they are now is wonderful, too. God created the human person to grow, and no stage of growth is "superior" to another. It is our entire life for which we are accountable to God, and not just our youth. To Qoheleth, I repeat the words of the poem: "Come grow old with me, the best is yet to come." AMEN