24 Sep 2022
I Am With You
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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 judgement.
Banish anxiety from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
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’; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return with the rain; on the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the women who grind cease working because they are few, and those who look through the windows see dimly; when the doors on the street are shut, and the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low; when one is afraid of heights, and terrors are in the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along and desire fails; because all must go to their eternal home, and the mourners will go about the streets; before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher; all is vanity.
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Claire
24 September 2022 @ 10:54 pm
..a “booster shot” of Hope in this, our Covid time. Thanks Beth
Donna
24 September 2022 @ 11:14 pm
Thanks, Beth! Your reflection comes at just the right time in my life! Much to ponder!
Imelda Maurer, CDP
25 September 2022 @ 12:01 am
Beth, thank you for your grounded and thoughtful reflection this morning. I write with one suggestion, please. The word ‘diminishment’ is quite a misnomer for the aging process. It means ‘to become less than’ and WE do not become less than as we age. We DO experience a decline in our physical abilities over time. That is the experience of senescence, not aging. I write as one with a background in gerontology and with a passion to get the facts, the Good News, about aging out to all my Sisters. Thank you.
Elyse Marie
25 September 2022 @ 1:03 am
Grateful for being invited into a deeper awareness of Presence.
Anonymous
25 September 2022 @ 1:06 am
Thanks, Beth, once again for sharing so powerfully the gift of wisdom that is so richly proclaimed by you. I look forward to spending more prayerful reflection on this message; once is not enough!
Beth McCormick, O.P.
25 September 2022 @ 1:11 am
Thk you, Imelda, for that clarification of the word diminishment. Beth
Pat Sullivan
25 September 2022 @ 1:26 am
Thanks, Beth.
I never cease to be inspired by your preaching. This is particularly helpful to me as I ponder my own aging.
Peggy Devlin, OP
25 September 2022 @ 1:28 am
My comment is listed incorrectly as ANONYMOUS – SORRY!
Anonymous
25 September 2022 @ 1:32 am
Beth – you never exhaust the depths of the wisdom of THE WORD! Thanks so much for sharing your gifts. This particular message is for me worth returning to it again and again.
Marianne Watts, OP
25 September 2022 @ 1:37 am
Beth: I loved your preaching and found your relating of Scripture to your own life so valuable. I share many of your memories. Marianne