The author of Ecclesiastes catches our attention today with
the familiar words in the Roman Catholic Lectionary which remind us that “to
everything there is a season”. The gist of this reflection is that we are part
of a great Divine plan under which the movement from one season to the other
and from one set of life’s circumstance to the next is a rhythm to which wise
people harmonize their lives and thereby live without frustration and
disappointment. The plea of the psalmist for deliverance is a slightly
different philosophy. The overwhelming awe with which we understand God is not
diminished, yet we also assert the beliefs that trust in God will change
circumstance to bring deliverance from temporal distress. The Gospel of Luke
tells how Peter responds to the question about the nature of Jesus which arises
from discussion about Christ as “Elijah returned”. Friar Jude Winkler points
out the reference in this text to the “Son of Man” in Daniel 7 and the use of
the vocabulary of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah to describe the suffering and
death Jesus predicts He will encounter in Jerusalem. The paradox contained in
this prediction of the One from God being servant who is put to death is a
starkly different “season” than the Hebrew Qoheleth probably intended in his
dissertation on sublime truths.
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