First Reading
Read byTeagan Halliday
Liturgy Of The Word
A reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes , Chapter 3 : vs 1-11
For everything there is a season , and a time for every purpose under heaven :
a time to be born , and a time to die ; a time to plant , and a time to reap what is planted ; a time to kill , and a time to heal ; a time to break down , and a time to build up ; a time to weep , and a time to laugh ; a time to mourn , and a time to dance ; a time to throw away stones , and a time to gather stones together ; a time to embrace , and a time to refrain from embracing ; a time to seek , and a time to lose ; a time to keep , and a time to cast away ; a time to tear , and a time to sew ; a time to keep silence , and a time to speak ; a time to love , and a time to hate ; a time for war , and a time for peace .
What gain have the workers from their toil ? I have seen the work that has been given to everyone to be busy with . God has made everything suitable for its time ; moreover , he has put a sense of past and future into our minds , yet we can never fully understand God ’ s plan in this world . So I realise that all we can do is to be happy and to do the best we can while we are still alive .
The Word of the Lord . All : Thanks be to God .