Lectionary: 453
Reading 1
eccl 3:1-11
There is an appointed time for everything,
and a time for every thing under the heavens.
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to tear down, and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;
a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away.
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.
What advantage has the worker from his toil?
I have considered the task that God has appointed
for the sons of men to be busied about.
He has made everything appropriate to its time,
and has put the timeless into their hearts,
without man’s ever discovering,
from beginning to end, the work which God has done.
Responsorial Psalm
ps 144:1b and 2abc, 3-4
R. (1) Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
my mercy and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I trust.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
LORD, what is man, that you notice him;
the son of man, that you take thought of him?
Man is like a breath;
his days, like a passing shadow.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Gospel
lk 9:18-22
Once when Jesus was praying in solitude,
and the disciples were with him,
he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah;
still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”
Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”
He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
THEME: TICK-TOCK
"He has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts." –Ecclesiastes 3:11
Did you ever want to stop the clock, turn the hands back, or move them forward? When you're way late, what if you could get two hours back or at least stop the clock for a while! You're losing by two touchdowns with one minute left in the fourth quarter. What if you could change the clock to one minute left in the third quarter! Then you'd have a chance. Your kids are sixteen and fourteen. They're rebellious and distant from you. You wish you would have spent much more time with them over the years, but you can't turn back the clock. You have six stressful years to work before you can retire. What if you could move up the clock! However, time is relentless and merciless. We can't stop it, slow it, or accelerate it. When it is time, certain things will happen, but not until then, and we can't do a thing about it.
However, Jesus is Lord of time. He rolls back the clock so we can receive the saving grace of His death and resurrection. The time of Jesus' final coming and the end of time can be "hastened" by our lives of holiness (see 2 Pt 3:12). Then the clock will stop forever. Time will pass away. Those who have not accepted Jesus as Lord of their time and lives "will go off to eternal punishment and the just to eternal life" (Mt 25:46; see also Rm 2:6-8; 2 Thes 1:9). Thus, eternity (i.e., no time) will free those in Jesus from the tyranny of time and impose an even worse tyranny of doom on those who have not given themselves to Christ. It's time to come to Jesus.
PRAYER: Father, may I use this present time to prepare for the timelessness of eternity.
PROMISE: " 'Who do you say that I am?' He asked them. Peter said in reply, 'The Messiah of God.' " –Lk 9:20
PRAISE: Sts. Cosmas and Damian, brothers and physicians, imitated Jesus, the Divine Physician (Lk 4:23), by travelling throughout the land, healing people free of charge, and converting them to belief in the Lord.
Be an inspiration, kindly Share.
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