Menu
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.
PS 144:1B and 2ABC, 3-4
R. 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!
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."
In the light of Christ, the famous passage from Ecclesiastes that there is a time for everything becomes much more positive than in the thought of the author. He is puzzled, for God does everything at the right time yet the endless cycle of change bewilders people and he doesn’t know how to see the right moment, for God has put timelessness in his heart. But the Christian knows that he goes forward to a future in God; to him change means the riches of variety and the opportunity to see the right time and to use it well in the service of the Kingdom. Jesus asks of each of us today not what others say about him but who he is for us and what he means to us. The answer he is waiting for has not to consist in long declarations but the living response of our lives.
God, in your wisdom
you order the course of time
and you lead the world and people
to their destiny in you.
You do all things well.
Make us see with eyes of faith
the opportunities you give us every moment.
Help us to use our time and life
and all your good gifts
to build up your kingdom stone by stone,
until you complete it in your own good time
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
– Lord, there is a time to pray and a time to act, Make us find the time for both, we pray.
– Lord, there is a time to think of our neighbor. Make us serve our brothers and sisters, we pray:
– Lord, there is a time to work for your kingdom. Whatever we do, make us serve that kingdom, we pray:
This is the time, Lord our God,
to give you praise and thanks
for your gifts of life and love
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
With this bread and this wine
we offer you through him the present day,
the joys and failures of the past
and the future we can but see
in visions and dreams of hope.
We are certain of you
on account of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Birth and dying,
laughter and tears,
sickness and healing –
God, these are precious gifts
which come from your hands.
Fill all these with the life and love
and the lasting presence of him
who is our bread of life, Jesus our brother,
that every day may become
a blessed day of the Lord.
We ask you this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
