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Living My Encounter with Christ

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

November 14, 2014. Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

By Father Edward Hopkins, LC

Luke 17:26-37

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. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left." They said to him in reply, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather."

Introductory Prayer: I believe in you, Lord, my companion and strength. I believe that you come out to meet me each day, asking me to depend more on you and less on creatures. I hope in you, Lord, as the one who fills my longing to love and be loved. I love you here and now with my prayer and with my desire to be faithful and generous in the little things you ask of me.

Petition: Lord, help me to put you first in my life.

1. They Were Eating and Drinking: In the time of Noah and of Lot, God’s judgment was said to come down upon man. Yet the real moment of judgment for each one of us comes immediately upon our own death. It is then that the kingdom will be fully revealed to us, and it will be decided whether we will be part of it or not. But it is in the course of my own life that my option for being received into the kingdom is decided. God comes to me today. How will I respond? My response now and each day determines my eternal place in the kingdom.

2. Do Not Return to What Was Left Behind: In most disasters people have little chance to collect belongings; those who try are often lost as a result. The same will be true of the Final Judgment – or at our own death; when Jesus comes, will I be ready? What do I most cherish? What I must hold on to is my relationship with Christ. And this implies in so many ways losing “my life” here. Do I live with the attitude of losing my life a little more each day, detaching myself from things, activities and people, so as to be freer to love, serve and be with Christ?

3. Where the Body Is? “Where Lord?” the disciples ask; where will the day of the Son of man take place? It will take place, says Jesus, wherever you are. Whether we die and encounter Christ in a personal judgment or are alive to encounter the Lord at his Second Coming and the Final Judgment, the reality is the same. Standing next to a saint or a sinner will not alter our fate. Who we know or what contacts we have will do little. Where we are in our relationship with Christ will be the only real determining factor. Where am I, Lord, today, in relationship with you? May this be my only concern!

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, increase my desire to live my life in close relation with you. Order all my activities according to your will, and my relationships according to your heart. “I want whatever you want, because you want it, the way you want it, as long as you want it” (Prayer of Pope Clement XI).

Resolution: I will give priority to my relationship with Christ. I will make prayer my first act today before every meal.

Homily of the Day

November 14, 2014

As we near the end of the Liturgical year, the Liturgy focuses on the essential things – to follow the Lord, as the responsorial psalm says. The Epistle stresses the new commandment: Let us love one another. This is love: to walk according to His Commandments, and this is His Commandment: that we walk in love as we have learned. The emphasis is on following the law of the Lord.

In the Gospel, the Lord’s basic message is that when the Son of Man comes, everything stops, and we had all better be ready. He recalls the time of Noah, when everything seemed normal until the day that Noah entered the Ark and they all died. Also, the Lord reminds us all that even Lot’s wife, who was already headed to safety, should not have tried to look back and hold on to the past. Lastly, the Lord emphasizes that whoever tries to save his life shall lose it, and whoever gives his life will be born again. Whoever gives his life for Jesus will be born again. Thus there seem to be two special words for today: COMMANDMENT OF LOVE and FOLLOWING THIS COMMANDMENT. These are the essential things that will carry us to the next life, to rebirth, to God’s Presence. Let us all pray for each other to learn the Commandment of Love and to Follow it steadfastly.