Today is August 31, the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time.
We read at today’s Mass, “What is too sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength search not. The mind of a sage appreciates proverbs, and an attentive ear is the joy of the wise. Water quenches a flaming fire, and alms atone for sins” (Sir 3:21-23).
The wisdom of Sirach offers us a fitting conclusion to our meditations this month on thirst. Again and again, Scripture speaks of living water — Augustine’s restless heart longing for God, Monica’s tears shed in prayer, the psalmist thirsting for the Lord as for streams in the desert. Today, the image appears once more: “Water quenches a flaming fire.” God’s grace alone satisfies our thirst and brings peace to our restless hearts.
Sirach also reminds us not to pry into mysteries beyond our strength. To “seek not what is too sublime” is not a command against curiosity or wonder, but an invitation to humility and trust. God reveals what we need when we need it. To demand knowledge on our own terms is to risk confusion or pride. Instead, we are called to live one day at a time, receiving the graces of the present moment.
Humility and trust
I remember my novice master often telling us, “Mind your business.” In other words, focus on the task God has given you here and now. To speculate endlessly about what lies ahead can distract us from the small fidelities that actually lead us to holiness. The truth is, if we could see everything at once, it would overwhelm us — not because God’s plan is too difficult, but because it is too good.
Today’s reading encourages us to ask instead: Lord, let me see what you want me to see. Let me drink only from the water you provide. That humility and trust will quench every flame and bring us to peace in God’s love.
Let us pray,
God of might, giver of every good gift, put into our hearts the love of your name, so that, by deepening our sense of reverence, you may nurture in us what is good and, by your watchful care, keep safe what you have nurtured. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
