FIRST READING
“There is nothing new under the sun.”
A reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes 1:2- 11)
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains for ever. The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south, and goes round to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already, in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to happen among those who come after.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 90:3-4.5-6.12-13.14 and 17 (R. 1 )
R/. O Lord, you have been our refuge, from generation to generation.
You turn man back to dust,
and say, “Return, O children of men.”
To your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday, come and gone,
or like a watch in the night. R.
You sweep them away like a dream,
like grass which is fresh in the morning.
In the morning it sprouts and is fresh;
by evening it withers and fades. R.
Then teach us to number our days,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Turn back, O Lord! How long?
Show pity to your servants. R.
At dawn, fill us with your merciful love;
we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us;
give success to the work of our hands.
O give success to the work of our hands. R.
ALLELUIA John 14:6
Alleluia. I am the way, and the truth, and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father, but by me. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
“John I beheaded,’ but who is this about whom I hear such things?”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 9:7-9)
At that time: Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Jesus, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen. Herod said, “John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
Herod was curious about Jesus but this did not lead him to conversion. Herod’s effort to see Jesus was fulfilled only when Jesus was on his way to the cross. Today Jesus remains an enigma; a figure that has provoked the same question: who is this Jesus? Some come to him with curiosity to know more for historical reasons. Some approach him with self-needs. But for us, it is a question that must lead us to a daily encounter with Jesus and a consequent conversion of heart.