In today's gospel, Luke 12: 39-48, Jesus tells us that we "must be prepared" for His coming, for God will come like a thief in the night, that is, "at an hour[we] do not expect." Jesus wants us to be ready when the Lord comes to take us home to heaven, that is, engaged in doing what the Lord commissioned us to do at our baptisms, our confirmations, our marriages, our profession of vows as men/women religious, as priests, as parents and husbands/wives, as sons/daughters and/or as single men and women involved in careers by which we do good for others and make the world a better place in which to live. How sad if, on the contrary, we are found wanting, not engaged in doing the good we were sent here to do and, on the contrary, being irresponsible, indifferent, uncaring, unloving, dishonest, corrupt, abusive stewards, engaged in sinful practises, distant from the Lord and fellow human beings, unaware of unmet human needs, and, in fact, not even knowing who the Lord is, who our neighbor is and who is in need of our compassion, love, and caring hearts! "That servant who knew his master's will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall" receive the consequences one justly deserves. Likewise, the servant who embraces the will of his/her Master will be justly rewarded for the good in which he/she engaged while waiting for his/her Master's return .
We need to realize that God does not sent us on a mission and then not give us the graces we need to carry out that mission. He equips us with the wisdom, the strength, the courage, the ability to live a disciplined life whereby justice is served, love between one another grows, forgiveness is rendered and mercy and compassion flourish! God also gives us the graces needed to tend to the "weeds" in our garden in such a way that the will of our Father in heaven is not thwarted!
What a generous, caring, loving Master! How can we not be vigilant for His return, knowing that, before His ascension into heaven, He promised to come back to us and take us with Him and that He would be with us until the end of our time here on earth!
Showing posts with label Readiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Readiness. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Sent on Mission to Proclaim the Kingdom of the Lord
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Luke, the evangelist, who worked along side St. Paul in making Jesus known to the Gentiles. Both Luke and Paul, friends of Jesus, did what the responsorial psalm, Psalm145, proclaims: "Your friends make known O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom." The psalmist goes on to say to followers of Jesus: "Let them discourse of the glory of [God's] Kingdom," a kingdom of peace and justice and love. As disciples of Jesus, we are to make "known [God's] might and the glorious splendor of [God's] kingdom, [a] Kingdom...for all ages." We are to let people know that God's "dominion endures through all generations," not just Jesus' generation. We are also to reveal the truth that "the Lord is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. [And furthermore,]...is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth."
In today's Gospel, Luke 10, 1-9, Luke tells the story of when Jesus appointed 72 disciples to proclaim the Kingdom and thus precede him to places which He Himself "intended to visit....[B]ehold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.....In whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.' If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in [that] house."
In order to do God's work, we need to, first ourselves, be at peace. If the persons we are sent to assist, be that family or community members, members of our parish, or our fellow employees, are not at peace with our presence or message, we need to move on to other places/persons, as Jesus counseled the 72. When the Lord send us out on mission, we also need to be prepared to encounter "wolves." Not everyone wants to hear about the Gospel way of life and not everyone lives a life that brings them to knowledge Jesus, the Lord who, as identified by the psalmist as one who "is just in all his ways and holy in all his works." As with Jesus, we will encounter opposition in living the Christian way of life and being true to ourselves!
Are you/am I ready? If we keep our focus on Jesus as we journey through any given day, or come back to the Lord when we lose our focus, we will always be ready!
In today's Gospel, Luke 10, 1-9, Luke tells the story of when Jesus appointed 72 disciples to proclaim the Kingdom and thus precede him to places which He Himself "intended to visit....[B]ehold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.....In whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.' If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in [that] house."
In order to do God's work, we need to, first ourselves, be at peace. If the persons we are sent to assist, be that family or community members, members of our parish, or our fellow employees, are not at peace with our presence or message, we need to move on to other places/persons, as Jesus counseled the 72. When the Lord send us out on mission, we also need to be prepared to encounter "wolves." Not everyone wants to hear about the Gospel way of life and not everyone lives a life that brings them to knowledge Jesus, the Lord who, as identified by the psalmist as one who "is just in all his ways and holy in all his works." As with Jesus, we will encounter opposition in living the Christian way of life and being true to ourselves!
Are you/am I ready? If we keep our focus on Jesus as we journey through any given day, or come back to the Lord when we lose our focus, we will always be ready!
Friday, July 20, 2018
"Put Your House in Order" (Is 38:1)
In today's first reading, Isaiah 38: 1-6, 21-22, 7-8, God sends the prophet Isaiah to Hezekiah to say to him: "Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover." Hezekiah, we are told, "turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord: 'O Lord, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly I conducted myself in your presence, doing what was pleasing to you!' And Hezekiah wept bitterly."
What if, tonight, God sent you and me a messenger who informed us that we are about to die and, therefore, we should "put [our] house in order, for [we] are about to die." How would we react? What would we say to the Lord, our God? Could we, as did Hezekiah, say to the Lord: "O Lord, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly I conducted myself in your presence, doing what was pleasing to you"?
What would we need to put in order, if we had only a short period of time to live? Could we say to the Lord: "I have been faithful and I have served you wholeheartedly as a husband/a wife, as a student, as a member of my religious community, as a parishioner, as a citizen?
What changes would I, would you, need to make so that we can say with Hezekiah at the end of our lives: "I have been faithful and have put my whole heart into my marriage, into my role as father/mother/grandfather/grandmother/aunt/uncle/son/daughter? What do I, do you, need to do differently so as to be faithful to my vowed commitment, my baptismal vows, and in carrying out my responsibilities to my parish, my civic community, my county?
In today's Gospel Acclamation, Jn 10:27, the Lord says to us: My sheep hear my voice,...; I know them and they follow me." Hezekiah faithfully followed the Lord!
What if, tonight, God sent you and me a messenger who informed us that we are about to die and, therefore, we should "put [our] house in order, for [we] are about to die." How would we react? What would we say to the Lord, our God? Could we, as did Hezekiah, say to the Lord: "O Lord, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly I conducted myself in your presence, doing what was pleasing to you"?
What would we need to put in order, if we had only a short period of time to live? Could we say to the Lord: "I have been faithful and I have served you wholeheartedly as a husband/a wife, as a student, as a member of my religious community, as a parishioner, as a citizen?
What changes would I, would you, need to make so that we can say with Hezekiah at the end of our lives: "I have been faithful and have put my whole heart into my marriage, into my role as father/mother/grandfather/grandmother/aunt/uncle/son/daughter? What do I, do you, need to do differently so as to be faithful to my vowed commitment, my baptismal vows, and in carrying out my responsibilities to my parish, my civic community, my county?
In today's Gospel Acclamation, Jn 10:27, the Lord says to us: My sheep hear my voice,...; I know them and they follow me." Hezekiah faithfully followed the Lord!
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