Lectionary # 454. Scripture for Sat. Sept.27,2008

Scripture: Saturday of 25th week. Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8. Psalm
90:3-4.5-6.12-13.14.17. Luke 9:43-45. Lectionary # 454

Meditating upon the final selection from Ecclesiastes and then
praying Psalm 90 as we did yesterday, we enter into the biblical mode of
prayer. This is best both as a preparation for the liturgy of the Word and
Sacrament as well as a help toward continuing this prayer during the day.
The readings give us a biblical perspective on the limits and shortness of
human life and center it in the perspective of creation and salvation.
There is a time for being created into our life and its experiences and a
time for salvation in returning to the Person who gives us life and
restores it as we pass from this life to the next. Like Ulysses in the
Greek epic we each have our odyssey leading to happiness.
Looking at nature and its constant changing, we see that God speaks
to us in many ways besides what we consider purely spiritual. We have two
eyes and two ears to observe God's whisperings and one mouth to pray---thus
listening is given a twofold gift while our mouth tells us that we are to
be wise, prudent, and kind---one mouth! From the Bible we learn to listen
with our heart the seat of our personhood in biblical thought.
Psalm 90 helps us to reflect on the very stages of life and in our
first reading from Ecclesiastes, the Preacher (Qohelet) we hear more about
our youthful stage in life while the Psalm moves us on to think about the
rest of our life. We again are given the same verse as yesterday which
captures today's message:"Lord, teach us to number our days aright, that we
may gain wisdom of heart."
Having rested on the tradition we have been given, we can easily
enter into the message of Jesus who tells us about the mystery of his last
stage of life which we name the Paschal Mystery of his suffering, death,
and resurrection. Unlike the apostles, we know the full story of Jesus
through both our Catholic faith and our own commitment to it. They, the
apostles, did not understand what he was telling them in the Gospel today
about his forthcoming death on a cross and his resurrection.
Participating in the Eucharist, we enter into these mysteries of
Christ not merely as a memorial but as an actual experiencing of them in
the sacrament of word and action, that is, in the reality of Jesus present
among us through the elements that are consecrated, the bread and the wine.
Some of us may be fortunate to participate in them each day; others on a
Sunday. Again we thank God for being created in his love and redeemed in
his gift of self on the cross for our salvation. Amen..