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From: Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8

Wisdom and youth

[9] Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the
days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes.
But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

[10] Remove vexation from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for
youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Thoughts on death

[1] Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days
come, and the years draw nigh, when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;
[2] before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the
clouds return after the rain; [3] in the day when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and
those that look through the windows are dimmed, [4] and the doors on the street
are shut; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the voice of
a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low; [5] they are afraid also of
what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grass-
hopper drags itself along and desire fails; because man goes to his eternal home,
and the mourners go about the streets; [6] before the silver cord is snapped, or
the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel
broken at the cistern, [7] and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spi-
rit returns to God who gave it.

[8] Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

*********************************************************************************************

Commentary:

11:8-10. Life is short, and the future that awaits everyone is uncertain (”vanity”: v.
8). Hence the advice given in vs. 9-10. The Preacher is not recommending hedo-
nistic materialism; one needs to be ever mindful that God punishes and rewards,
although, as the author sees it, that happens within the bounds of this life.

12:1-7. The second part of the book began by pointing out that a person who
seeks true wisdom does not dodge difficult issues, including that of death (7:1-2).
The author rounds off this part by focussing on the Creator and on the end of
man’s life. Death, and what will happen when it comes, is described very force-
fully here. The wisdom of man cannot penetrate beyond it. Viewed from the per-
spective of death, man’s life is a temporary gift given him by God. One can glance
back at one’s youth and also at the years one may still have ahead (v. 1) and pon-
der the tenuous nature of life and remember that death is coming. This is truly the
office of a teacher of wisdom — to help individuals see what possibilities lie open
to them, so that they can make free and responsible choices. This is what the
Preacher has done, as he says at the end of his text. “Death is the end of earthly
life. Our lives are measured by time, in the course of which we change, grow old
and, as with all living beings on earth, death seems like the normal end of life.
That aspect of death lends urgency to our lives: remembering our mortality helps
us realize that we have only a limited time in which to bring our lives to fulfilment’’
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1007).

12:8. This verse repeats almost word for word what was said at the start of the
book (cf. 1:2). The statement, in addition to acting as a title to the book, con-
firms that even the lifestyle outlined in the final chapters (cf. 7:9-12:7) is still “va-
nity of vanities”. True wisdom consists in realizing this and accepting it. Chris-
tian asceticism has accepted the general thrust of the Preacher’s message (de-
tachment from worldly values, and attachment to God’s commandments) and
indeed its written form — use of short, incisive phrases, and a use of contrasts to
good effect. Christian commitment has often been described in such terms — as
the imitation of Christ combined with rejection of the worlds vanities: ‘’He who fol-
lows me does not walk in darkness, says the Lord. These words are Christ’s. in
which he counsels us to imitate his life and deeds if we truly desire to be enligh-
tened and freed from all blindness of heart. Our study should consist, therefore,
in a consideration of the life of Jesus. [...] Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, unless
one strives to love and serve God alone. The height of wisdom is to set aside this
world in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Vanity is to seek the riches that
perish and to place one’s hope in them. It is vanity, too, to seek human glory and
boast of it. Vanity is to yield to the desires of the body, for which you must bear
a greater punishment in the afterlife. It is vanity to desire long life and not to live
it well. Vanity is to concern yourself only with this life and fail to contemplate the
life to come. It is vanity to give your love to things that will so soon pass away
and not to seek earnestly the joy that will last forever. Call to mind often that sa-
ying from the Scriptures: “Neither has eye seen, nor ear heard,” and try to tear
your heart away from what is visible, to move beyond into what remains invisible”
(Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, 1, 1-5).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Luke 9:43b-45

Second Prophecy of the Passion

[43b] But while they were all marvelling at everything He (Jesus) did, He said to
His disciples, [44] “Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is to
be delivered into the hands of men.” [45] But they did not understand this saying,
and it was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it; and they were
afraid to ask Him about this saying.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

44. Christ predicts His passion and death a number of times. Initially He does
so in veiled terms (John 2:19; Luke 5:35) to the crowd; and later, much more
explicitly, to His disciples (Luke 9:22), though they fail to understand His words,
not because what He says is not clear, but because they do not have the right
dispositions. St. John Chrysostom comments: “Let no one be scandalized by
this imperfection in the Apostles; for the Cross had not yet been reached nor
the grace of the Spirit given” (”Hom. on St. Matthew”, 65).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading
Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8 ©

Rejoice in your youth, you who are young;

let your heart give you joy in your young days.

Follow the promptings of your heart

and the desires of your eyes.

But this you must know: for all these things God will bring you to judgement.

Cast worry from your heart,

shield your flesh from pain.

Yet youth, the age of dark hair, is vanity. And remember your creator in the days of your youth, before evil days come and the years approach when you say, ‘These give me no pleasure’, before sun and light and moon and stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;

the day when those who keep the house tremble

and strong men are bowed;

when the women grind no longer at the mill,

because day is darkening at the windows

and the street doors are shut;

when the sound of the mill is faint,

when the voice of the bird is silenced,

and song notes are stilled,

when to go uphill is an ordeal

and a walk is something to dread.

Yet the almond tree is in flower,

the grasshopper is heavy with food

and the caper bush bears its fruit,

while man goes to his everlasting home. And the mourners are already walking to and fro in the street

before the silver cord has snapped,

or the golden lamp been broken,

or the pitcher shattered at the spring,

or the pulley cracked at the well,

or before the dust returns to the earth as it once came from it, and the breath to God who gave it.

Vanity of vanities, the Preacher says. All is vanity.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 89:3-6,12-14,17 ©