11 August 2019: Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Liturgical Color: Green)
Readings:
First Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9
Second Reading: Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Gospel: Please Read Luke 12:32-48
Getting ready with vigilant faith!
The famous quote: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life!" But it may also be that today is actually the last day of our earthly journey, and that there is no more tomorrow. Then how would you spend your last day?
How we deal with the last day spells the difference between believers and non-believers. For those who believe, we know that life is not ended but only changed. But for non-believers there is nothing more after this life. So enjoy and be merry while it lasts... till the very end.
This Sunday's liturgy is about vigilant faith of believers. The Gospel exhorts us to be vigilant and watchful, like the faithful servants in the parable who stay awake waiting for their master. Now the theme of readiness for the second coming of the Lord is to be found towards the end of the Gospel account of St. Luke.
Life is a challenging journey and we can never be ready for every event in our lives. That is why the Gospel admonishes us to be dressed for action, so to say, and blessed are those who are ready and alert. And we know that it takes a deep breath of faith to be ready for any unexpected event which may come upon us.
So then, the message of the parable in the Gospel reading is that disciple-servant must be ready for the return of the master, who will come and knock at the door "at an hour we do not expect". We must be like the faithful servants in the parable who stay awake for their master.
Likewise, we, too, don't know when our Master will come and take us to the heavenly banquet of eternal union with God. Will we be ready by that time? But we will not be ready when we are more interested in feeding our worldly desires. Our Lord Jesus Christ warns us not to waste time being lazy about purging our lives of earthly treasures and concerns.
Now we know in the Gospel reading that the reward for being ready for the return of the Lord is the opportunity to serve Him. If we are not ready for Him, and He comes in our daily lives in the form of some need, then we will miss the chance to serve Him.
In practical life, how do we really prepare for the end time? In other words, since we do not know when death will come, what should we do?
Well, our Lord Jesus says that we must stand ready at all times. That means to say we don't wait for God to tell us when or where we will die, because that will not happen. Instead, we must live a life of vigilant faith, putting things right this very moment, here and now. We must open our hearts and minds so that we shall be aware of the Lord's coming in our lives. There is nothing more urgent today than to cleanse our heart and pray for God's forgiveness. Then we need not worry when the call to final judgment comes.
Because for practicing Christians death will be our graduation day, and not an examination day.
A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.
Ad Jesum per Mariam!
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