Saturday in the Twenty-Fifth Week of Ordinary Time

“Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth” (Qoh. 11:9). Life is so precious, yet we waste so much of it regretting the past and planning the future. I am reminded of an old quote. “Yesterday is a cancelled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have—so spend it wisely” (Kay Lyons Stockham). Guilt about the past wears us down. What we did yesterday is finished. All we can do is acknowledge our responsibility for what we did, open our hands, and let it go. The thought of what we will do tomorrow paralyzes us with anxiety. There is no certainty that we will ever wrap our hands around it. All we have is the present. If we treasure it and put it to good use, we will give glory to God.

God’s name, EHYEH ASHER EHYEH (in Hebrew), is translated as: I AM WHO I AM. God’s existence does not depend upon anyone else. When He reveals himself, He promises that He will be what He will be. God is totally in the present, and in Him all things are present. God is the source of all life, and in Him all things exist. The Eternal I Am is present with us to save us. All who have been created in his image and likeness are to make themselves available to all who are in need.

 

I sometimes forget that I was created for Joy.
My mind is too busy.
My heart is too heavy
for me to remember
that I have been
called to dance
the Sacred dance of life.
I was created to smile
to love
to be lifted up
and to lift others up.
O’ Sacred One
untangle my feet
from all that ensnares.
Free my soul
that we might
dance
and that our dancing
might be contagious.

(Hafiz)