Friday of the Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time(Click here for readings)
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."
The Rapture. Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left." Does this sound spooky to you? It doesn't to me. In fact, it sounds kind of boring.
For some strange reasons Protestants love to talk about the rapture. They have written far too many books about it and produced far too many movies portraying it. They think it's all interesting and "cool." The way I look at it, it's too showy and too anticlimactic. To concentrate strictly on the rapture is like reading the ending of a novel, first, without having read the book from cover to cover. Protestants consider this part to be the most interesting part. I find it to be not interesting at all. I could care less how everything comes to an end. I just want to make sure that it ends well for me and for all my loved ones! I'm more interested in knowing more and more my part - the middle part - in the story of salvation.
Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather. Some people love to use people. The elderly are constantly being bombarded by phone calls stating that they have won a million dollars or something. The young are constantly being bombarded with the latest and greatest gadgets. The poor are constantly being used for political gain. The rich are constantly targeted by political opportunists. Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.
There is no escaping vultures. As long as we have breath, we will have vultures surrounding us. The famous have vultures. They're called paparazzi. Criminals have vultures. They're called journalists. Victims have vultures. They're called ambulance chasers. Even the dead have vultures. They're called undertakers.
Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.
This is a warning by the Lord. Watch out. Stay on track. Be vigilant. Do not be deceived. Unfortunately, there are some people who make it a living to feed off of others.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. This is Christian physics. It's similar to Christ's first law of Christian physics: The more you give, the more you receive.
Life isn't about comfort. It's not even about getting more and more things. It's about giving what you have...and more. It's about putting other people first and observing how they put you first. This is not a trick. This is not a joke. This is reality.
This is all sound advice coming from the Lord, for it has been tried and tested. The Lord tried it out for himself and can all see the results of it.
Vultures will always circle far above, but our Lord's firm advice will make sure they stay there.
What I find interesting is that even when we seem to be on firm footing with the Lord, it seems easy to succomb to the vultures, Sometimes those vultures come in the form of doubt, fear, impatience and even anger. I am constantly amazed at how weak I actually am! Daily Eucharist and the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel is an excellent suit of armor. We all need protection from the "wickedness and snares of the Devil." May God rebuke him we humbly pray.
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