• Reading I: Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8
• Resp. Psalm:  Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14,17
• Gospel Reading:  Lk 9:43-45

Qoheleth’s Advise to the Young

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth,
before the evil days come
And the years approach of which you will say,
"I have no pleasure in them"

The passage from Qoheleth contrasts the time of youth to the time of old age ("evil days").  The passage is filled with picturesque speech, describing the onset of the wintry years of life.  While there are some who would disagree with this negative description, still the description has become classic.  He gives snapshots of a town slowly dying (the vigor of activity and the noise of busy-ness becoming a memory and fading into oblivion), of orchards no longer tended, of pots and pans going into disuse…  In all these, Qoheleth’s words are a reminder that the joy and gladness of youth, like the passing of time is also transitory.  He sounds almost like a doting grandfather who tells the youth to follow their desires with the awareness that God will be judging their acts

Follow the ways of your heart,
the vision of your eyes;
Yet understand that as regards all this
God will bring you to judgment.

He has already said that what is important is to enjoy life, God’s gift (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13) and about death and judgment (Ecclesiastes 3:17-21).  So now he tells the young that though human existence is a burden, they should learn to enjoy it, i.e. "to put grief away from their hearts." 

A Note On Qoheleth’s idea of Time and the coming of Christ

It is recherché to find a connection between two readings when there is none.  But consider this:  there is the fulness of time that God has destined for the coming of His Son (cf. Gal. 4:4), but since He has not put a sense of what is "timely" in the hearts of men (see the previous day’s blog), they were not able to recognize His coming.  Thus even when Peter recognized Jesus as the Christ of God (Luke 9:18-22), he still missed its point.  Peter also tells us that though the prophets knew of His coming, still they had to have a special revelation to realize that it was for a later generation that He would come.

Concerning this salvation, prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and investigated it, investigating the time and circumstances that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the glories to follow them. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you with regard to the things that have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you (through) the holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels longed to look. (1Peter (NAB) 1:10-12)

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