GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 24TH SEPTEMBER 2016
SATURDAY OF THE 25TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
1ST READING: Ecclesiastes 11:9 – 12:8
PSALM: 89:3-6, 12-14,17
GOSPEL: Luke 9:43-45
THEME: A LIFE WITHOUT REGRETS
In her book, “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying”, Bronnie Ware, an Australian nurse who spent many years caring for patients in their last 12 weeks, enumerates the following as the chief regrets of people on their deathbeds:
1. I wish I’d the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Qoheleth, the Preacher, in our First Reading, challenges us to live a life without regrets when he writes, “Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment…Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’ ” (Ecc 11:9, 12:1).
Life here on this earth is really a pursuit of happiness. Underpinning the choices we make, whether in the area of education, professional carrier, marriage or any other vocation, is a deep longing for happiness. Unfortunately, many search for happiness everywhere except the very place where happiness can be found — in God.
St. Augustine hit the nail right on the head when he wrote, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God”. A life without regrets is one lived in God. To live in God is to be continually aware of his presence and to respond to this presence with acts of love.
There is a time to be young and a time to be old. In each of these times, God is available and accessible. Let us seek the Lord, while he may be found.
Prayer: With a joyful heart, I give all to you Lord Jesus. Make me know the shortness of my life that I may gain wisdom of heart. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).