Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-11; Luke 9:18-22)
We may not want to do it, but we can pity Donald Trump. At the beginning of the year, he was riding
high. His party defeated a move to
remove him from office. His economic
policy seemed to be working. Joblessness
was low, and income for everyone was rising.
Even his foreign policy which defeated ISIS and withdrew from heavy
commitment had its appeal. Then the Covid
pandemic pushed his campaign for reelection to the side of the road. The electorate would not judge him for his
earlier accomplishments but for how he dealt with the virus. Strange as it may seem, the preacher Qoheleth
has this kind of turn of events in mind in today’s first reading.
There is an old saying, “Man proposes, and God disposes.” The preacher notes how humans want to control
things according to their liking. They
want to be like God. The preacher says, God
has “put the timeless into their hearts.”
But for all the planning humans might do to have things their way, it is
God whose orders arranges things. He has “an appointed time for everything.” Humans must follow God’s promptings. They are born and die when God sees fit. They plant when God withdraws the snow and
sends the rain. When God permits a war,
they must stop their work to defend their country.
Over-planning does not become humans but gives them the
illusion that they are gods. Of course,
we should make provisions for the future.
But even more so, we should look to God for guidance and assistance. It is folly to think that we can control
everything. And it is wisdom to say
along with Jesus, “Not my will but yours be done.”
