Stay Awake, The Lord Is Coming

𝐍𝐎𝐕. 𝟏𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝐖𝐢𝐬 𝟏𝟑:𝟏-𝟗     

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟗:𝟐-𝟓 "𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝."

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟕:𝟐𝟔-𝟑𝟕

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “… 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕.” (𝒗. 34)

          If you have been following up on the Gospel readings these past few days, you will note that some of the teachings of Jesus have become eschatological in their content and emphasis has been made on the need for everyone to account for the gifts that have been entrusted to us. But in this passage today, Jesus for the first time spoke in no uncertain terms that there will indeed be a day of judgment that will await us.

         The Gospel for today that we read in 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟕:𝟐𝟔-𝟑𝟕 fits into that mold when Jesus talks of the end times and the need for us to work on our own salvation. Today we live in a world filled with secularism where almost everything is relative. Attitudes, norms and values have changed considerably, and many find it hard to live in today’s world and not be consumed by it.

        What we tend to forget is that God in his goodness and generosity has given all of us a great gift - the gift to make a choice that impacts our future. I have always believed in the saying that the future is now. This means that our future is dictated by what we do today.

        As what I always love to say whenever I facilitate teachings is that while the Will of God is for us to live holy lives and be reconciled with Him, the choice to do that remains with us. The moment we open our eyes in the morning we are ushered into a world filled with choices. How we plan to go through our day is a choice we make.  

        We can either love the people and the beauty of nature around us or we can be cynical, resentful, envious or bitter - the choice remains with us. We can live our lives in wild abandon, or we can live in peace and joy. Our future depends largely on the choice or choices we make.

        People normally don’t want to talk about death, especially if it is about their own demise. Rightly so for it is truly difficult to face death regardless of how you lived your life in this world that has lost all forms of propriety. With the advances in modern communications technology, knowing God and His Will for us shouldn’t be a problem. The problem however is that we were all given the right to choose what we want to do with our life.

       And men spend their earthly days trying to look for wealth, power and fame - things that cannot even keep us alive when the time of reckoning comes. Everyone at some point in time will leave this world and face his maker. Granting for the sake of argument that there is no heaven. That everything they said about heaven and hell isn’t true. Then you don’t lose anything. But what if it turns out to be true and the criteria for getting into heaven is the kind of life you lived.

        What if salvation depends on how you treat a beggar, the one who thirsts, the naked who had to weather the heat of the sun and the cold, the prisoner and the sick whom you forgot to visit. What if everything you built and accumulated are of no import.

       In going through life, we must always remember that while we live in the world, we are called to be out of this world. It simply means that we must not allow ourselves to be influenced by the wiles of this world and should instead work out our salvation by knowing God so that we may love and serve Him for in the end our salvation rests in Him alone.

         While we know from Scriptures that Our Lord will come a second time, the day and the hour remains unknown. This was the reason why Jesus has been urging his disciples and the people who come to listen to his preaching to prepare and not to be caught off-guard when he comes as what happened to the five foolish virgins.

         The day of judgment remains unknown to us although certain signs are being revealed which may be an indication of his coming as Christ himself said in 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 24:36 “𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔, 𝒏𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆.” Which is why St. Augustine is also urging us to do now what we ought to do as if tomorrow were to be the last day of our life.

         In this Gospel passage, Jesus reminded his disciples of what happened during the time of Noah and Lot. In citing the parallelism of these two Old Testament events, the “𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒂𝒉 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒌. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍.” (𝒗. 27)        

         Similarly, the same fate befell the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who were so immersed in sinful desires. Lot’s wife could have been spared the fire and sulfur that rained down from heaven had she followed the Lord’s instruction not to look back.

         In reminding his disciples of these two tragic events, Jesus was trying to drive home the point that while the judgment of the Lord will come unexpectedly there is still time for the people to change and amend their ways.

         The lesson for us is that we should all be aware that there is indeed a day of judgment or atonement. When that day comes, we will stand before the judgment seat and account for how well or how bad we took care of our bodies which are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. (𝟏 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟑:𝟏𝟔)

         And Christ out of his generosity and love for us gave a hint in 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟒:𝟑 of what we are to watch out for so that we will have the confidence to live in accordance with the Grace that we have received. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says these signs include:

1.     The Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all

nations, and then the end will come. (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟒:𝟏𝟒) This is happening now with the

ongoing revival in the Church and efforts to catechize the unchurched and those who

have been baptized but have drifted away from the Church.

2.     A large part of humankind will be without faith and immersed in things of the world

(𝐋𝐤 𝟏𝟕:𝟐𝟔) as in the days of Noah (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟒:𝟑𝟖). Wars in the Middle East, Ukraine and

elsewhere. Murders committed by youths in the school systems in the US. The

gargantuan level of graft and corruption in the government related to the anomalous

flood control projects. The proposed Divorce Bill now pending in the Philippine

Congress. All these symbolize the utter lack of faith including those who have been

baptized.

3.     An anti-Christ will appear, but Our Lord will destroy him "with the breath of his mouth and

the splendor of His coming on the last day." (2 Thes 2:8)  

4.     Elijah will return and preach penance. "See I will send the prophet Elijah before that great

and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the father to their children,

and the hearts of their children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land

with a curse." (Mal 4:5-6)

5.     Dreadful signs will appear in the heavens and great tribulations will come upon mankind

(𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟒:𝟐𝟗). War, pestilence and famine will erupt as during the siege of Jerusalem

(𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟒:𝟕). And men shall wither with fear and from expectation of the things that will

come upon the earth (𝐋𝐤 𝟐𝟏:𝟐𝟔).           

         And what Jesus said in 𝒗. 34 “𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕” should serve as a reminder for us that God would judge us on an individual basis in accord with how we have lived our lives and how we made use of the Grace we have received. This means that our salvation cannot be by proxy or association with the goodwill that others have built.

         There is reason to rejoice, however, because God himself will grant us the necessary Grace and refuge to those who will seek him in faith and with contrite hearts. He gives us the Grace to know him personally and to accept his lordship as we do when we were baptized in the Spirit. And he now gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to live each day for his kingdom, and the readiness to receive him when he returns.

         Thus, God's judgment is good news for those who have prepared for his coming because their reward is God himself who is the source of all truth, love and eternal life. Let us prepare then and not play with our lives because the alternative is unimaginable. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘕𝘰𝘷. 14, 2025)