Dear Parishioners of Saint Polycarp,
Greetings in the Lord Jesus. It has been a while since my last pastoral letter in June. Time flies by quickly, and it is now August. We love to hold on to time, but time does not wait for us. This is the message that the First Reading of Ecclesiastes and the Gospel of Matthew are conveying to us.
The First Reading of Ecclesiastes is also known as Qoheleth. Therefore, do not be confused if you see that some bibles indicate the name Qoheleth in place of Ecclesiastes. The main intention of the Book of Ecclesiastes is to call us to embrace wisdom, a wisdom to live a life in conformity to the will of God. An article on Bible Study Tools which says this about the Book of Ecclesiastes, “The author of Ecclesiastes puts his powers of wisdom to work to examine the human experience and assess the human situation. His perspective is limited to what happens ‘under the sun’ (as is that of all the wisdom teachers). He considers life as he has experienced and observed it between the horizons of birth and death — life within the boundaries of this visible world” (https://www.biblestudytools.com/ecclesiastes/ ~ consulted on May 10, 2025).
According to the author of Ecclesiastes, everything that the human person has will come and go, as if everything is of vanity, “Vanity of vanities…All things are vanity!” Though the message may sound negative, it is the reality of life. We are born into this world, and from this world we return. We are born into time, but with time we diminished. Time does not wait for us. There is something philosophical here that we can learn.
The Gospel of Matthew also conveys a similar thought, when Jesus explained to the man who approached him about the issue of family inheritance: “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” Taking on the man’s question, Jesus responded with a story of a rich man who throughout his life stores so many possessions, and He countered his lifelong investments to this “every night” that God is calling Him. In other words, his lifelong of possessing materials is now being faced with a short time to live.
The message of scriptural readings this weekend does not mean to deter us from working or fulfilling our earthly duties. Rather, it is calling us to reflect on our earthly life or time and remember God.
Joining my brother priests, I thank God for you and may you have a wonderful August.
Father Viet Peter Ho
Pastor