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Jesus said to his disciples: "Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master's return..."
Today's Gospel passage can be understood in at least two ways: now and in the future.
I have no doubts we will all be dead before the Lord's second coming, so allow me to concentrate on the "now" of this passage.
At your command. The Lord said, "Gird your loins [Get ready] and light your lamps" [strengthen your faith] "and be like servants" [and do as I do]..."Be ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks" [be ready to fight the good fight at the moment the Lord commands].
Are we ready?
"And should he come in the second or third watch" [And should he come at the darkest - most difficult - moments of your life], "blessed are those servants" [good for you].
Where can I find the Lord's graces? Where do I find what I am looking for? Well, like so many things in life, we tend to find what we are looking for in the unlikeliest of places.
Where can I find love? In sacrifice. Love and sacrifice go together like Christ and the Cross. The two are nailed to each other. Where can I find peace? At the foot of the Cross. In the voluntary abandonment to divine providence. Where can I find grace? In life's filthiest and nastiest moments and places! "If by that one person's transgressions the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many" (cf. Rom 5:17-19).
Where can I find my King and my God? In a child's body. In the insignificant town of Bethlehem. From the womb of a Virgin. From a holy and poor family. Where can I find fulfillment? In giving. The more you give, the more you receive. Go on missions. Seek to serve! Seek out the forgotten, the abandoned, the neglected - the losers of the world.
How can I get strong? When I am weak then I am strong (cf. 2Cor 12:10). Where can I learn to forgive? By asking for forgiveness. In the Confessional. How do I find my life? Start by losing your life. How can I make it to the top? By gradually working your way to the bottom. How can I increase my faith? Take a leap of faith. See if what the Lord said is true. See it for yourself. Find out on your own. Let your reason take you to the mountain base. Let your faith take you to the top.
Get ready, for the Lord is already putting us to the test.
"I have no doubts we will all be dead before the Lord's second coming..."
ReplyDeleteCertainly not trying to get a prediction from you Father, but do you have a thought of when this might be? Roughly same time frame from Jesus' time to now (few hundreds or thousands of years) or some time WAY down the road (hundreds of thousands of years)?
And can you clarify a few things for me? 1) "THIS generation shall not pass away..." Which generation? Certainly not his. 2) "No one knows when that day or hour will come —not the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." If Father and Son are one in the same, how does He keep knowledge from Himself?
Thanks,
How can I get strong? When I am weak then I am strong (cf. 2Cor 12:10). Where can I learn to forgive? By asking for forgiveness. How do I find my life? Start by losing your life. How can I make it to the top? By gradually working your way to the bottom. See if what the Lord said is true. See it for yourself. Find out on your own…..Get ready, for the Lord is already putting us to the test.
ReplyDeleteAmen Father :)