Discernment: What we Learn from Ecclesiastes 3: 1-11

In today’s first reading, Ecclesiastes 3: 1-11, we are reminded that  there “is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every  thing under the heavens”: birth and death, dying and rising, peace and war, tearing down and rising up, building and destroying what was built, planting and reaping what was planted, weeping and laughing, killing and healing, rending and sewing, keeping and throwing away, speaking and being silent, embracing and refraining from embracing, seeking and losing, loving and hating. “Oh, my goodness”, we might exclaim. Or “Give me a break!”

Can you discern what action is appropriate for you at this point of time? Are you to give “birth” to something yet to be born in your life? Are you to rise to a new occasion knocking at your door? Are you to tear something down and rebuild, plant something new or reap what you have already planted? Is it time for you to weep, to grieve a loss, or to rejoice at a gain?  It is time to keep what you have or throw something away so as to move on to something that challenges your growth into the best person you can become?  It is time to embrace what God is asking of you and refrain from embracing what others are expecting of you? Is it a time for you to seek for a partner in life or to explore other vocational choices? Is it a time to seek deeper meaning in your married life, in your religious life, in your single life,  and find ways to make a difference in your current situation?