Bible
Study: Ecclesiastes 1, 2 to 11 and Luke
9, 7 to 9.
Today’s
first reading takes our minds to that popular saying from the book of
Ecclesiastes or Qoheleth: “Vanity of Vanities! All things are vanity! What
profit has man from all the labour which he toils at under the sun?”
The word
‘vanity’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘hebel’ which means “breath” and is used
metaphorically of anything transitory, frail, unsatisfying. When the author of
the Ecclesiastes speaks of everything in the world as vanity, he indirectly
says everything in this world is just like mere breath; that is, short-lived. Nothing
in this world lasts forever or is capable of bringing us everlasting happiness.
I can’t
forget how I told myself very many years ago that if only I could hold One
hundred Naira in my hands, I would be the happiest person on earth. And back
then, one hundred naira meant a lot to me as a pupil in primary four. But here
I am today richer than one hundred naira but I state categorically that I am
still not the happiest man on earth. What a pity!
Back then,
hundred naira was like a big achievement to me. Today, I am struggling to raise
funds to complete a Parish House in my new place of pastoral assignment. Tomorrow,
it may be something bigger, but the fact remains that just as a hundred naira
means nothing to me today, everything I achieve in this life would surely become
vanity to me tomorrow.
When recently,
I heard the last words of Steve Jobs, the C.E.O. of Apple which he ordered to
be written down just before he passed away, I could not but see truth in the
fact that we spend so much time and energy in this life acquiring what we do
not really need; things that would not even matter to us on our death bed;
vanity!
Herod is
troubled in the Gospel passage because he heard about the fame of Jesus and
some people were saying that he was John the Baptist risen to life. He regretted
what he did to John the Baptist. The feeling of regret or better put, emptiness
is what comes to us when we realize our past actions were mere acts of foolishness,
especially those spurred by vain ambitions.
Could it
be that I would one day get to the end of my life and look back at all these
things I was craving for, all these things I worked so hard to acquire, all
these things for which I made many heads roll and tell myself they were all
vanity? What is the point committing a sin today just to get something that I
would deeply regret tomorrow?
Let us
pray:
Lord Jesus,
bless me with wisdom and open my eyes to see the emptiness of this life. Amen.
Good evening.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.
Fr. Abu
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