First Reading: Wisdom 18:6–9
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 33 --Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Second Reading: Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Gospel: Luke 12:32-48
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about vigilance and responsibility. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48). These words echo in my heart as I remember a simple lesson from childhood.
When our parents left the house, we would sometimes make a mess, playing and scattering things everywhere. But the moment we heard the sound of their return, we would quickly put everything in order and act as though we had been well behaved the whole time. That is human nature. We often behave best when we know someone is watching or about to arrive.
The spiritual life is much the same, except with one crucial difference. With God, we do not know the day or the hour. As (Matthew 24:42-44) warns, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come... So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.” There will be no warning sound at the door, no last-minute scramble to set things right.
I recall 25 years ago during Y2K. I was in middle school and many feared the world would end because of the words of many false prophets, even in Ghana. People blessed their marriages, turned to prayer, and lived more carefully. Fear shook everyone awake, but that kind of readiness often fades once the crisis passes. I remember it rained that New Year’s Day. We never had rains in December through January 1st, and to many it was an omen. But Scripture calls us to a constant posture of faithfulness, not one that appears only in moments of fear like we saw in the year 2000.
Saint Paul writes in (1 Thessalonians 5:2), “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” Death and Christ’s return are beyond our scheduling. There is no such thing as untimely death, only the reality that each of us has a limited and unknown amount of time. One of the sober realities of being a healthcare professional is seeing people so young fall sick and pass away while others live into their nineties and hundreds. This is a vivid illustration that we never know when the time will be. We must strive to live with clean and pure hearts.
That is why we must put our world in order now. Remove sin. Go to confession. Live as if the world, or at least our world, will end today. This is not a morbid thought but a wise stewardship of the time and grace God has given us.
Innocent chaos to intentional faith, like our childhood cleanups, we often shape up when we sense oversight. The Gospel calls us to live that way all the time.
Uncertainty demands readiness, we cannot plan for the day or hour. Readiness is a daily discipline, not a seasonal reaction.
Stewardship shapes our response, the more God blesses us with gifts, opportunities, and grace, the more faithfully we must live for Him.
May we live today with our hearts prepared, our lives in order, and our eyes fixed on the One who could come at any moment.
God bless you
-Pal Ronnie-
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