Tuesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 492

But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace.

I find a salutary contrast between today's Old Testament reading from Wisdom and the selection from the New Testament Gospel. Wisdom speaks reassuring words of peace and comfort for the souls of the just, "They are in peace." But Saint Luke teaches us to say, "'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

The contrast reminds us that the mercy of God is pure gift. We dare not take it for granted; it is not mechanical like gravity, or required by some law which even God must obey. But we can be assured of it.
We should never forget that we have no claim on God. The indifferent cycles of the Earth, with their rise and fall, ebb and flow, life and death remind us continually of our mortality. By nature's scale a human lifespan is not much longer than a mayfly's and seems to have little more import.
Hurricanes, typhoons, blizzards, tornadoes, droughts, fires, earthquakes and eruptions laugh at our pretensions of mastery. Scientific research, discovering billions and billions of galaxies, and seemingly infinite varieties of life evolving through millions of years, dismisses human claims of significance. What is the human creature against the panoply of stars?
In the light of such cosmic indifference it's not hard to say, "'We are unprofitable servants....'"
But the Spirit attests to the esteem and affection in which God holds us. We would know nothing of God if he did not continually save us, heal us, gather us, reassemble our society, and restore our original beauty. Despite our insignificance in the sight of the stars, the Father has sent the Son to save us and the Spirit to move us. God does not abandon us.
Even the scientific skeptic has to admit our scientific curiosity asserts our significance. 'Here we are!" the human says before the abyss. 
The Elect say before God. Although we are unprofitable servants, we praise your Name!