You Know Not....

The Gospel reading for today reminds me of a joke I used to have hanging on the file cabinet near my desk (many years ago when I was still in banking). It showed a worker at a desk, with his feet up, doing a word search. His boss approached and said, "why aren't you working?" The worker replied, "I didn't see you coming." It still cracks me up when I think about it today all these years later and I'm smiling as I write this. 

Of course this just reminded me of another gem from my younger years, back when The Muppets were on t.v. in prime time. There was a skit where Kermit was in some kind of explosion and when his gomatta (yeah he was a gangster) showed up, and found him in the rubble, she said to him, "Oh Kermie, I thought you croaked." He replied something like I tried to but I couldn't. Ha! (I just love the play on words with the Muppets.) BTW the girlfriend was played by, I believe, Liza Minelli so it was said in such a pleasant sing-song type of voice with a bit of Brooklyn thrown in. Fabulous.

Seriously, though, we do not know the time nor the day ~ as it so eloquently points out in today's reading ~ on which the Lord will come. 

Gospel Mt 24:42-51

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: 
if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’
and begins to beat his fellow servants,
and eat and drink with drunkards,
the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day
and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

I think some people just equate this to the last day, you know like period; the end of the world. The second coming of Christ. Well yes and no, it has to do with your own day as well.

In this year alone look at how many people have died suddenly, and without warning, around the world from either natural disasters or at the hands of others. Nobody expects that they are going to die today, or any day for that matter. We seem to be very good at pushing that reality far into our consciousness. It would be very difficult to function on a daily basis if we dwelt on that reality yet it is vitally important to be ready to meet with Jesus every day of our lives. The only way to do that is to live your life as closely to Him as you possibly can. Love one another, pray fervently and often, attend services, confess your sins and atone for them, read and study the teachings of God in the Bible, stop judging people. If you are a Catholic, receive the sacraments and receive them often.
Live a Christ-like life.

A wonderful prayer that we can say daily is the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. It is said daily at 3:00 P.M. for your own soul and for those that will die on that day. It is associated with being said in the midst of one that is dying. Jesus has promised that he will stand between that person and the fires of hell, but he will do that for ALL those that say this merciful prayer for themselves as well as those it is intended for. You can say it for people worldwide; I do, for those that will die during the week (when I'm at the adoration chapel on Sundays) and daily for those that will die over the course of the next 24 hours. It is so incredibly important to pray for others. After all, we want everyone to be in heaven.

Each and every day I want to say, "My soul is ready. Is your's...?"**

Who's with me?

Have a peaceful week.

Mare


**excerpted from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - "My soul is ready. Is your's, Doctor Jones?". Of course they own the copyright.