MASS READINGS FIRST READING "If they are able to have an idea of the eternal course of things, how have they not discovered the One who is its Master? " Reading the Book of Wisdom 13, 1-9

12 November 2021, General Week 32nd - Friday 

MASS READINGS 

FIRST READING 

"If they are able to have an idea of   the eternal course of things, how have they not discovered the One who is its Master? " 

Reading the Book of Wisdom 13, 1-9 

By nature, they are inconsistent,

all those people who remain in ignorance of God:

from what they see good,

they have not been able to know the One who is;

when examining his works,

they did not recognize the Craftsman.

    But it is the fire, the wind, the light breeze,

the circle of stars, the violence of the waves,

the luminaries of the sky governing the course of the world,

that they regarded as gods.

    If they took them for gods,

under the spell of their beauty,

they must know

how much the Master of these things is superior to them,

for the very Author of beauty is their creator.

    And if it was their power and efficiency that struck them,

they must understand from these things

how much more powerful is He Who made them.

    Because through the greatness and the beauty of the creatures,

one can contemplate, by analogy, their Author. 

    And yet, these men deserve little blame;

because it is perhaps by seeking God and wanting to find him

that they have gone astray:

    immersed in the midst of his works,

they continue their search

and let themselves be taken in by appearances:

what is offered to them is so beautiful !

    Again, they have no excuse.

    If they have pushed science to such a degree that

they are able to have an idea

of the eternal course of things,

how have they not discovered more quickly the

One who is its Master? 

            - Word of the Lord.