From: Luke 21:34-36
The Need for Vigilance
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Commentary:
34-36. At the end of His discourse Jesus emphasizes that every Christian needs
to be vigilant: we do not know the day nor the hour in which He will ask us to ren-
der an account of our lives. Therefore, we must at all times be trying to do God’s
will, so that death, whenever it comes, will find us ready. For those who act in
this way, sudden death never takes them by surprise. As St. Paul recommends:
“You are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief” (1
Thessalonians 5:4). Vigilance consists in making a constant effort not to be at-
tached to the things of this world (the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupi-
scence of the eyes and pride of life: cf. John 2:16) and in being assiduous in
prayer, which keeps us close to God. If we live in this way, the day we die will
be a day of joy and not of terror, for with God’s help our vigilance will mean that
our souls are ready to receive the visit of our Lord; they are in the state of grace:
in meeting Christ we will not be meeting a judge who will find us guilty; instead
He will embrace us and lead us into the house of His Father to remain there for-
ever. “Does your soul not burn with the desire to make your Father-God happy
when He has to judge you?” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 746).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
First reading | Apocalypse 22:1-7 © |
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Psalm | Psalm 94:1-7 © |
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Gospel Acclamation | Mt24:42,44 |
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Or | Lk21:36 |
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Gospel | Luke 21:34-36 © |
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