Sep
Friday, 26 September – Principle of Contradiction
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Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
A time for giving birth,
a time for dying;
a time for planting,
a time for uprooting what has been planted.
a time for healing;
a time for knocking down,
a time for building.
a time for laughter;
a time for mourning,
a time for dancing.
A time for throwing stones away,
a time for gathering them up;
a time for embracing,
a time to refrain from embracing.
A time for searching,
a time for losing;
a time for keeping,
a time for throwing away.
A time for tearing,
a time for sewing;
a time for keeping silent,
a time for speaking.
A time for loving,
a time for hating;
a time for war,
a time for peace.
What does a man gain for the efforts that he makes? I contemplate the task that God gives mankind to labour at. All that he does is apt for its time; but though he has permitted man to consider time in its wholeness, man cannot comprehend the work of God from beginning to end.
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Luke 9:18-22
One day when Jesus was praying alone in the presence of his disciples he put this question to them, ‘Who do the crowds say I am?’ And they answered, ‘John the Baptist; others Elijah; and others say one of the ancient prophets come back to life.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ It was Peter who spoke up. ‘The Christ of God’ he said. But he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone anything about this. ‘The Son of Man’ he said ‘is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.’
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What does a man gain for the efforts that he makes?
The times where I am troubled have seen me running to my place of refuge in the form of the beach. It is there that I marvel the whole tapestry of the stars and remember how small I am in this whole picture. Today’s first reading reminds me of the importance of realizing one’s limits in life.
We need to learn that the work that we do in our life will one day need to be undone because it has lost its original purpose. Rather than cling on to those efforts, we should consider how we can continually respond to changes in our environment to be able to minimize the pain that we feel. This can only come through much prayer and discernment where God speaks to us in the quiet of our heart.
Jesus is the perfect example of the first reading. His praying alone resulted in Him asking a question that elucidated the answer from Peter that leads us to understand that the “success” of the Son of Man can only be achieved by His death. Thus His death ironically purchased life for all of creation. Let us never forget that the life of a Christian is one of contradiction and not one of agreement with the world.
(Today’s sharing by Nicholas Chia)
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Prayer: Jesus, we pray that we remember our Baptismal vows and the priestly, prophetic and kingly roles that we have to fulfil.
Thanksgiving: We give thanks for all the events in our lives.
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Upcoming Readings:
Saturday, 27 September – Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8, Luke 9:43-45
Sunday, 28 September -Ezekiel 18:25-28, Philippians 2:1-11, Matthew 21:28-32; Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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