8th Week in Ord. Time, Friday – 2nd June 2023 – Sirach 49,1.9-13; Mark 11,11-26
Living the Memory Lane
The first reading apparently stresses on the good people living on after their death by being remembered by their family and friends. It was a practice held in ancient Hebrew times, an understanding of their belief about the afterlife. Sirach recalls two sets of people – both the famous and the unknown. Through this eulogy, he shows how a devout Jew of the 2nd century BCE thought of the history of his people. In today’s reading, Sirach recalls those countless good people who have lived down through the ages but of whom nothing is known and everything forgotten. Generation after generation, they brought children into the world and handed on their traditions and will continue to do so. Their ancestors are glorious because of their recognition of God, their honourable achievements, their recognition by their own generations, their godlikeness, their legacy to their children, and their lasting name and memory. Here the real emphasis is on how God remembers those who have done good deeds. God is to be praised in the good and faithful actions of people, since goodness should always point back to the one who is good. It is again an opportunity to recall with gratitude our ancestors for setting up our social and religious structures and handing on the cultural and sacred treasures of our earlier ages.
