Cycle C - Year II:  

7 August 2022: Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Wisdom 18:6-9

Second Reading:   Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 (Hebrew 11:1-2, 8-12)

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 12:32-48 (Luke 12:35-42) 

Be attentive and alert!

We are finite beings, that is why "Today is the first day of the rest of our life!"  There is something about this message that is hopeful and comforting that makes us want to be courageous and to treat today differently.  So we give thanks to God for the first day of the rest of our life.

But it may also be that today is actually the last day of our earthly journey, and that there is no more tomorrow. How would you spend your last day?

How we deal with each day spells the difference between believers and non-believers.  For those who believe, we know that life is not ended but only changed. 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. The Gospel exhorts us to be vigilant and watchful, like the faithful servants in the parable who stay awake waiting for their master.  The Gospel reading is a warning for us to be alert and ready for the moment of Christ's return.

Now, 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. It takes a deep breath of faith to be ready for any unexpected event which may come upon us.

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 any hour we do not expect". We must be like the faithful servants who stay awake for their master. The central point is the need to be attentive and alert.

Our Lord Jesus insists on vigilance: be prepared, do not let your attention wander so that when the master comes you are ready to welcome him. 

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?  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 with earthly treasures and concerns.  

Since we really do not know when death will come, what should we do?

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.  Prayer times are moments of being ready -- in common worship, personal prayer time, casual moments.

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!