Nothing New Under The Sun

Ecc 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Ecc 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Is there anything new under the Sun? Has anything changed? I Think NOT…

All early peoples sacrificed human beings. One has only to remember Agamemnon’s sacrifice to angry Artemis of the most beautiful thing he possessed, his daughter Iphigenia. But this was a story of the Greek Iron Age, no more present to the Romanized world into which Patrick was born than public executions are to ours.

For us, it is a strain to find any surviving elements of sacrifice—cut flowers, Christmas trees, vigil lights, and the Mass may be the last vestiges—but in the Roman world animal sacrifices were still offered.

It seems that at some point in the development of every culture, human sacrifice becomes unthinkable, and animals are from then on substituted for human victims. The story of the binding of Isaac in Genesis may constitute symbolically just such a turning point in the history of the Jews—when Abraham’s God tells him it is no longer required that he sacrifice his only son but may substitute a ram instead.

The Irish had not reached this point and were still sacrificing human beings to their gods when Patrick began his mission.

They sacrificed prisoners of war to the war gods and newborns to the harvest gods. Believing that the human head was the seat of the soul, they displayed proudly the heads of their enemies in their temples and on their palisades; they even hung them from their belts as ornaments, used them as footballs in victory celebrations, and were fond of employing skull tops as ceremonial drinking bowls.

Has anything changed? No! They killed there old people, we kill our old people. They killed there babies, we kill our babies.

There is nothing new under the sun. Nothing has changed since the beginning of time to the fullness of time. From the Fullness of time until now. And nothing will change from now until the end of time.

We live in an evil world and the only thing that keeps us alive is a powerful, loving creator that sent his Son and His Holy Spirit to save us and protect us.

Someday the Church will leave this place and all hell will break loose but Glory to God we know the end of the book. Jesus gets the Victory! Jesus gets the Glory! And all His Saints will reign with him whether it be saint Patrick or Saint Oldham. Whether it be Saint Mother Teresa or Saint Betty or Saint Wayne or Saint Adeline, or Saint Rex or Saint Valerie.

The way of the cross leads home, the way of the cross leads home. It’s sweet to know as I onward go, The way of the cross leads home.

Halleluiah Christ has victory over death and the grave and we are more than conquerors…Amen?

Amen!

Hymn # 404 “The Way Of Cross Leads Home”

Many Thanks to CAHILL, THOMAS for "Sacrifice History"