ARE YOU READY FOR THE LORD? (Homily for August 25, 2016. Thursday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time.)

Bible Study: 1st Corinthians 1, 1 to 9 and Matthew 24, 42 to 51.
     
                                                                                               
You know that song: “Are you ready when the Lord shall come? Are you ready for when the Lord shall come? In the morning 6 o’clock, in the evening 5 o’clock, are your ready when the Lord shall come?”

Jesus says to us today: “Watch, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” What does it mean to watch? Being watchful is remaining awake or refusing to sleep. It is a figure of speech that has very deep spiritual meaning. To be watchful is to be alert in the spirit; alert to temptations (ability to know when and how one is being tempted is a strong key to overcoming such temptation), alert to laziness; that is, knowing when one begins to forget or neglect daily prayers as well as one’s devotional practices, alert also to growth or depreciation in one’s spiritual life.

Being watchful is like having a thermometer and constantly checking one’s spiritual temperature. I recall the days I spent on admission in the hospital some years back; how the nurses kept coming to check my temperature and read my vital signs at regular intervals. They were constantly on alert for my sake recording my progress to assist the doctors in knowing what next to do. Being watchful is becoming a nurse unto oneself as far as growth in the spiritual life is concerned.

Just as a good security officer placed to guard a great treasure never goes to sleep while on duty, being watchful requires that we diligently guard our greatest treasure which is our heart. Ability to censor and control the contents of our minds determines our progress spiritually. The Psalmist prays: “Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not turn my heart to any evil.” Psalm 141, 3 to 4. The book of Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23 defines what spiritual watchfulness is all about when it says: “Guard your heart will all vigilance, for out of it proceeds the wellsprings of life.”

Being watchful is not allowing the world determine your thoughts, it is being your own master. Let’s say while doing an assignment, you happen to look up information on the internet then all of a sudden, a pornographic site pops up. You had no intention of viewing pornography, now you have seen a picture or a short clip of some raw act. You have a choice at this point either to click on the link and feast on more or to close that pop-up immediately and return to your work. It is either the image you have accidentally seen begins to dictate your thought or you chose what occupies your mind by deliberately thinking of something else. If you allow the world be in charge of your thoughts, the images you have seen will so fill your mind and before you know it, you are deep into sin such as masturbation, fornication and so on.

Being vigilant is not saying temptations will not come. To be vigilant is to recognize an intruder and fight it off almost immediately. A good security guard will see only the shadow of someone and will act immediately. He will not wait till when the thief has captured him, bound him hand and foot before he will act. Being vigilant is knowing that the devil can come at any time in any form to fill up your mind and pollute it with thoughts alien to your Christian faith. St. Peter puts it beautifully when he wrote: “Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith.” 1st Peter 5, 8 to 9. 

When Jesus speaks about being ready for the Lord, he does not say it in the sense of one having to stop all he or she is doing. Readiness is not the same thing as Hibernation. To be ready is to become active in the positive sense. As Jesus puts it: “Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find SO DOING.” The best form of preparation for heaven is asking myself this question: “If the world were to end right now, how will God see what I am doing right now?” Before ever I go anywhere, before I begin any activity at all, I must always ask this question. If I know God will not be happy with what I am about to do should the world suddenly come to an end, then why should I allow myself do it?

Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, make me ready at all times. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.


Fr. Abu

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