euphemos

The readings for this Second Sunday of Advent (A) are so very full, and I don’t just mean long – they are dense. 

There’s a whole bunch here about sprouts and buds coming out of stumps, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, judging rightly, justice, punishment and peace. The wicked are slain, but children play safely with snakes and carnivores eat grass. John appears preaching repentance and penance and the kingdom of heaven, and promising judgment.

As I prepared for this weekend, I reminded myself of the people to whom God says through Ezekiel (38:17-18): “As for you, my flock… was it not enough for you to graze on the best pasture, that you had to trample the rest?” I was a bit like a dumb steer trampling good feed into the mud as I looked for grass.

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18vo Domingo en Tiempo Ordinario

Hoy tenemos la única lectura de Eclesiastés en todo el leccionario para los Domingos y Días Santos. Eclesiastés representa el camino purgativo hacia Dios. Ese es el camino de dejar ir que todos tenemos que recorrer. Hace muchas preguntas, pero no da respuestas, excepto que todo es vanidad. ¿Y qué escuchamos? Oímos acerca de un hombre que ha trabajado con sabiduría, inteligencia y habilidad, pero está agobiado por dolores, penas y fatigas. Lo ha hecho bien, pero no puede descansar.

¿Descansan bien?

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today we have the one and only reading from Ecclesiastes in the entire lectionary for Sundays and Holy Days. Ecclesiastes represents the purgative way to God. That’s the path of letting go that we all have to travel. It asks many questions, but it provides no answers, except that everything is vanity. And what do we hear? We hear about a man who has worked wisely and intelligently and skillfully, but is burdened with sorrow and grief. He has done well, but he cannot rest.

Do you rest well?