Word to the Wise
Saturday, September 24, 2022 - 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 in 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]
I am fond of telling Freshmen students just arriving on campus that they are beginning the four free-est years of their lives! I also tell them that there are two very important lessons to learn outside the classroom: how to manage time and how to fall in love. How much they enjoy those more or less four years of freedom will depend on how those two lessons are learned! The Book of Ecclesiastes has a somewhat jaundiced view of life - a kind of "what's the use?" way of looking at things. But the lines quoted above do have a good challenge. Making the most of one's youth will go a long way toward helping one make the most of middle age and elderhood!
Ecclesiastes reminds us that life is precious and is limited. A spiritual directee of mine once said a wise thing to me: "Nobody is guaranteed a tomorrow!" We live constantly in hope, like the character Annie in the musical, ANNIE!: "Tomorrow, tomorrow, there's always tomorrow! It's only a day away!" I, for one, embrace that hope, even if my "tomorrows" will be less than those of the Freshmen! God's providence will rise before the dawn, as the great Dominican preacher, Lacordaire, once wrote. Living within that providence with love has a better chance of making tomorrow worth hoping for. AMEN