In the Gospel for Tuesday of the 29th Week, Jesus reminds us to be ready, but what does that mean? Let’s consider four ways that the Lord describes.
READY to WORK – Jesus says, “gird your loins,” which is the ancient equivalent of saying, “roll up your sleeves.” The Lord has a work for us and wants us to get to it. He’s not thinking of a worldly career, but rather things such as raising children in godly fear, pursuing justice, and growing in holiness. The Lord wants us to work in His Kingdom.
We must commit to prayer, Sunday worship, reception of the sacraments, obedience, and holiness. The Lord has a particular work for each of us based on the gifts He has given us. Some can teach, others work well with senior citizens, still others have a good head for business and can provide employment at a just wage. Some are called to priesthood or the religious life. Some are called to suffering and to offer that suffering for the salvation of souls. Some serve in strength, others in weakness. In some way, all are called to serve, to work. So, work with what the Lord gave you to advance His Kingdom. Part of being ready means doing our work.
READ the WORD – The Lord says, “light your lamps.” Taken from a literal standpoint, this refers to getting ready as described in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). In another sense a lamp is a symbol for Scripture. For example, Your Word, O Lord, is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path (Ps 119:105), We possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts (2 Peter 1:19).
So, from today’s Gospel we can also understand that an essential part of being ready is being rooted and immersed in Scripture and in the teachings of the Church. In this increasingly secular world, so hostile to the faith, our minds are bound to be sullied unless we read Scripture every day. How can our minds be sober and clear if we are inebriated by the world? Being ready means reading Scripture each day and basing our life on it.
REMAIN WATCHFUL – The Lord says, “and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. … Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
There are different ways to watch and wait. There is the passive watching and waiting such as one might do when waiting for a bus to come, but there are other more active ways such as a waiter might exhibit as he hovers in the background anticipating the needs of the diners. It is this watchful and waiting spirit that the Lord has in mind here. If we have invited guests to our home, we prepare our house and make sure everything is in order as we await their arrival. In a less literal sense, to set our house in order is to sweep clean our soul of sin and all unrighteousness, by God’s grace, and to remove the clutter of worldliness. Regular confession and daily repentance sweep clean the house of our soul; simplifying our life and minimizing worldly attachments de-clutters the house of our soul.
Have you prepared the house of your soul for the Lord’s arrival? If you haven’t, the Lord says that you may experience him as a thief; He is not really a thief, though, because everything belongs to Him. If we have not renounced our worldliness and greed, if we have not de-cluttered our lives worldly attachments, the Lord will come to take back what is His; He will seem a thief to us because we think it is ours. It’s never a good idea to call God, the Lord and owner of all, a thief!
REFLECT on your reWARD – The Lord says, Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants.
The Lord is clear that He has a reward for those who are found ready. It is prefigured in the banquet of the Eucharist, wherein the Lord prepares a meal and feeds us. The Lord says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me (Rev 3:20). And I confer a kingdom on you, just as my Father has conferred one on me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom (Luke 22:30).
For most of us in the Western world today, food is easy to come by and not given a great deal of thought. In the ancient world this was not so, and one of the pleasures people looked forward to most was a hearty meal in the company of friends and family. The Lord offers us the magnificent blessing of Heaven, where we will be with Him and those whom we love forever in unspeakable joy and peace.
Do you meditate often on Heaven and long for its rewards? It seems strange to me that we speak so little about Heaven. Because it is not a place any one of us has been, it’s hard to fully understand what it will be like, but we should be reflecting often on the joy awaiting us there. Part of being ready to go home to Lord is longing for that day. When we want to do something we eagerly prepare for it; we are motivated and make sacrifices to do it.
Last year a group from my parish traveled to the Holy Land. Many of them saved money for two years through a payment plan to be able to go. In preparation, we gathered together periodically, studying maps and reading Bible stories. On the day of departure many in the group arose early and arrived at the airport hours ahead of time. Eagerly reflecting on Heaven and the joy awaiting us there should be similar. If we desire Heaven we will more naturally get ready and lay aside whatever is necessary to make the passage there.
So, here are four ingredients constituting a recipe for readiness. You’d better set your house in order ’cause he may be comin’ soon!
Amen, thinking of St. John Paul 11 today on his feast day and wishing to go back in time, (no ones perfect) for that Shepherd who was a blessing to me, and wishing those who loved him would be inspired by him, he loved the Lord, he finished the race, a John and a Paul for his Lord and King, Amen.
Well now! – what an incredibly apt video on the very day that a certain President of the USA has announced he is going to build up his nuclear arsenal in order to ‘frighten’ other world powers into reducing theirs!!
But – let’s not get political!! We Christians should have no reason to be frightened.
I hope that I am ready! I think I am!! I prayerfully think constantly about the wonderful day when I will get to meet my maker and my God for the very first time – ‘out’ of time, that is. I hope and pray that you do too.
You say Msgr Charles that ‘none of us has ever been to Heaven’! Of course, I know what you mean, but I do wonder about that sometimes. I like to think that, whilst we may have no awareness or actual physical memory of where we ‘came from’, I believe that the deep-rooted need to ‘return home’ to Heaven is something which is innate in all of us. After all, if God knew us before time and the heavens and earth were created, then we must already have existed in spirit – if only in God’s loving, creative mind – “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). And that would mean that we have the kernel of the home where we came from, and to which we need to return, planted deep in our souls. All the more reason to ‘be ready’!
Sadly, it seems that not all of us are that keen to get back there! Many seem to want to stay here – or go to a rather more humanistically idealised kind of ‘heaven’. A place where ‘everything’s beautiful all the time’ – just so long as we don’t have to face our Lord and His judgement before we receive whatever reward He will see fit to give us! – or not, as the case may be! THAT’S what we need to be ready for. And maybe that’s why many may be too scared of the consequences of ‘going home’ and who don’t want to ‘face up’ to His final decision on our lives. Once again – all the more reason to be ready.
Personally, I can’t wait to ‘get back home’ – that’s ‘Heaven’ for me! There is nothing I want to hold onto here. So – as I pray all the time – ‘Bring it on, Lord Jesus’ – or – rather more properly, “Come Lord Jesus, Come.” Whenever my mind is wandering from His way, I try to remember to pray that simple mantra – whether it be during the day or in the dead of night, when maybe I find it difficult to sleep. My little prayer invites Jesus to come to me in the ‘here and now’ – as well as to come for me when He is ready to take me home.
‘He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.’ Rev. 22:20-21
In reference to Who I believe is our Godly appointed President, I for one am very glad that He has the wisdom, insight and forbearance to protect our Country by increasing our Nuclear arms. This country will never use them, but will never be threatened by the enemy either! Can you imagine what Russia and or North Korea would threaten us with if we did not have Nuclear arsenal???
A throw-away, tongue-in-cheek comment by a ‘Brit’ about your ‘el presidente’ upsets you?! Who, by the way, I believe was appointed by ‘MONEY’ and ‘POWER’ – as indeed, most of them are!!
Then who can we trust? Well certainly not mere president’s men, that’s for sure!
“Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.” Psalms 146:3
“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man . . ” Psalms 118:8-9
So you’re not interested in commenting on The Lord returning to you personally for your soul then??
NO! Probably not! The next blog on ‘Veils and Hats’ proves that!!
“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8)
It’s all so sad . . . .
Given that such a Proclaimed all mighty would allow for such suffering of 100% innocent children with birth defects or cancer… I have no desire to have a “Lord” with a God complex return.
Like Lord Acton said: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
You can defy an all powerful God if you like, or you can humble yourself and seek truth.
We all make the mistake, at some point in our lives, to think we are independent of God. But we are 100% dependent on God for every part of our existence, for eternity.
We experience suffering, in this life, because we have not been made for our glory but for the glory of God. We are created self-aware extensions of God, made to share, observe and express His love and Glory. (In heaven we will be one with the will of God, one God loving himself (St Augustine)).
We cannot express His Glory unless we truly agree to the relationship and that is why our testing with suffering (in this life) is a very challenging test indeed. In a way, our testing with suffering is God testing an intimate created extension of Himself, His body. There is no Glory for Him if we don’t truly agree to His love. I imagine suffering is somewhat like our immune system testing cells for cancer (cells that reject their intended role and attack the body). Because our creation is for the expression of God’s glory, expressed in the body of Christ, Hell is obviously a distinct possibility for those who do not want to be part of it and reject God and His expectations. When we understand our relationship to God it is so easy to understand why God loves us, what an amazing gift we have been offered and how foolish sin is.
Yes you are certainly free to reject an all powerful God as long as you accept an eternity separated from God your provider. Now if you actually don’t believe in God, I still suggest you humbly seek truth!
The real question is “Are the Democrats who believe in abortion ready when the Lord
comes?” They are destroying our country and our church.
Are you ready ??
Its a most personal question we *must* all ask ourselves over and over . .
Bob Dylan – ARE YOU READY ??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWTZfQ3HVg8
Thank you very much, Father, for your reflections. especially by reminding us that Jesus can arrive soon, and by inviting us to think of Heaven.
I would add praying the rosary daily as a preparation to receive the Lord.