From today’s Scripture: “Vanity of Vanities! All things are vanity!” — Ecclesiastes 1:2

Qoheleth states that all things are vanity in the reading from Ecclesiastes, and Herod is greatly perplexed in the Gospel reading from Luke. How do we deal with our perplexities and vanities? How do we find meaning and purpose in our lives? Herod “kept trying to see him.” As we seek and encounter Jesus Christ, it continually transforms us. The prayer, “Fall in Love,” attributed often to Father Pedro Arrupe begins with “Nothing is more practical than finding God” and concludes “Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”

Recently at the Religious Brothers Conference, we were having a discussion of being “just a Brother,” and it was the subject of the keynote address at the Brothers Symposium in 2017. In my vanity, I was insulted and irritated by this saying at first. I have learned to embrace the saying, and it gives me great freedom and joy in my vocation as a Glenmary Brother. My focus is on sharing my gifts for the mission and charism of Glenmary and living the Glenmary way of life. St. Francis de Sales stated, “Be who you are and be that perfectly well.”

Let us pray: Lord, help me to see through the perplexities and vanities of life. Give me the graces to be who You created me to be. May all that I am and do glorify You.

Today’s author is Brother Jason Muhlenkamp, a missioner in Trousdale County, Tennessee.

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