Gospel: Luke 17:26-37
Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will
be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came
and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were
eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left
Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will
be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, someone who is on the
housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and
likewise one in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the
wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will
be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding
meal together; one will be taken, the other left.” They said to him in reply,
“Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures
will gather.”
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Reflection:
Are you afraid of the end times? Of course we all are, Jesus mentions frightening
scenarios in our gospel reading for this Friday. He mentions similar
destructive occurrence like in the days of Noah where everyone on the face of
the earth were wiped-out except for Noah and his group.
The same destruction happened in
the place of Sodom and Gomorrah where the people there became very sinful. The
people of Sodom and Gomorrah committed despicable sins such as sexual sins,
thus earning the wrath of Yahweh.
Our own respective end time will come to us; we cannot prevent this
from happening for this is the nature of our life. But then again we hold in
our hands what kind of end time and life after our end time we would have. If
it would be a hellish end time or a heavenly and peaceful end time. What Jesus mentioned to the
disciples is a fair reminder for all of us to straighten our lives.
While we are alive we still have in our hands the luxury of time to
leave behind everything that makes and influence us to sin. Let’s seriously
reflect on this call of Jesus to repentance, sin has done nothing good to us.
It made our lives miserable and if we would not leave it behind us it would
further make our lives more miserable.
Why continue to live a sinful life when Jesus is always offering us His
mercy and forgiveness? - Marino J. Dasmarinas