know new or no new?
"Nothing is new under the sun." —Ecclesiastes 1:9
Solomon, the wisest man in the world, said there was nothing new and therefore life was nothing but re-runs. This was true and very depressing. However, all human beings desperately desire something new because we realize how woefully inadequate what we presently have is. Yet, we hear that there is nothing new. Therefore, we have no hope.
Jesus, Who is wiser than Solomon (see Lk 11:31) and Who is Wisdom Itself (1 Cor 1:30), said the opposite of what Solomon said. Jesus said in His word: "Now all is new!" (2 Cor 5:17) When God became a human being, that was new. After Jesus died on the cross, we could become new creations (2 Cor 5:17). When Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, that was unprecedented, new. When Jesus changed bread and wine into His body and blood, He did a new thing. The first Christian Pentecost was a new event in which the Church was born.
Jesus has made everything new, and life that was the "same old thing" became everlastingly new. "The One Who sat on the throne said to me, 'See, I make all things new!' " (Rv 21:5)
Prayer: Father, may I know the day on which I was baptized, and may I celebrate the radical newness of my baptism daily.
Promise: "Fill us at daybreak with Your kindness, that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days. And may the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours; prosper the work of our hands for us!" —Ps 90:14, 17
Praise: St. Pio stated, "There is no flowering of the soul to beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain."
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, February 8, 2010
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