Friday of the Thirty-second week in Ordinary Time Second Letter of John 1:4-9. I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth just as we were commanded by the Father. But now, Lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing a new commandment but the one we have had from the beginning: let us love one another. For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning, in which you should walk. Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; such is the deceitful one and the antichrist. Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for but may receive a full recompense. Anyone who is so progressive as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son. Psalms 119(118):1.2.10.11.17.18. Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they who observe his decrees, Who seek him with all their heart. With all my heart I seek you; let me not stray from your commands. Within my heart I treasure your promise, That I may not sin against you. Be good to your servant, that I may live And keep your words. Open my eyes, that I may consider the wonders of your law. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17:26-37. Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left. They said to him in reply, Where, Lord? He said to them, Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather. Commentary of the day Saint Gregory of Nyssa (c.335-395), monk and Bishop Homily 11 on the Song of Songs They were eating, drinking, buying, selling The Lord gave his disciples important recommendations so that they might shake off everything earthly in their nature like dust and might thus be raised to desire for supernatural realities. According to one of these recommendations, those who turn towards the life on high must be stronger than sleep and always remain watchful… I am talking about the drowsiness that arises among those who are plunged in life’s lie through illusory dreams such as honors, riches, power, pomp, the fascination of pleasure, ambition, the thirst for enjoyment, vanity and everything that their imaginations lead superficial people to seek after madly. All these things pass away with the fleeting nature of time; they belong to the domain of appearances… Hardly have they seemed to exist when they disappear like the waves of the sea… So that our minds might be free of these illusions, the Word invites us to shake this deep sleep from the eyes of our soul, so that we might not slip away from the true realities by becoming attached to that which has no consistency. That is why he suggests that we be watchful when he says: “Let your belts be fastened around your waists and your lamps be burning ready.” (Lk 12:35) For when the light shines before our eyes, it chases sleep away, and when our loins are held tight by a belt, they prevent the body from succumbing to it… The person who has fastened on the belt of temperance lives in the light of a pure conscience; the trust of a child illuminates his life like a lamp… If we live in this way, we will enter a life like that of the angels. IN THE DAYS OF THE SON OF MAN. The Gospel continues Jesus’ apocalyptic discourse to the disciples begun yesterday (Lk 17:22). The day of the Son of Man is described as coming suddenly and catastrophically. It will not be this way if people are not too engrossed in earthly preoccupations and are prepared to welcome the day. Jesus offers Noah (Gn 6:5ff) and Lot (Gn 19:15-26) as biblical examples of detachment and sacrifice, of watchfulness and faith. As the liturgical year draws nearer to its close, the readings are often about the end times—referring both to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and to the end of the world as we know it. The picture may be disturbing and puzzling, but it is not meant to scare us. The message urges us to be always ready. If we heed the words of Jesus, do the will of the Father, and prepare for the great encounter with the Lord, we can look forward to the day of the Son of Man with great expectation. That is why, after the Lord’s Prayer at Mass, we pray that, by the help of the Lord’s mercy, “we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” “One will be taken, the other left.” Each one will be judged individually. We cannot discharge our duty to God by proxy.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 16:43:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015