Reflection for November 12, Friday Saint Josaphat, bishop and martyr (M): Luke 17:26-37

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:

Why does the church perpetually call us to leave behind our sinfulness? For example, the church since time immemorial has been tirelessly advising us to live a life worthy in the eyes of the Lord. For what reason is this call of the church? 

This is to prepare us for the coming judgment day which unfortunately we don’t know when it will be. Therefore, the sooner we respond to this call of repentance the better for it would save us from unspeakable punishment. 

The people during the time of Noah and Lot were preoccupied with immoral and worldly things; perhaps this was the reason why without any warning came the catastrophe. Why did it happen? It happened because they were very much preoccupied with the things that would satisfy their lust, their greed and their love to commit sin. 

We never learn from these incidents because up to this very moment some of us continue to crave to commit sin. Thus, we continue to harbor the devil in our midst we better stop these sinful actions while we still have time. Because sin will not do us any good for the reason that the more that we sin the more that our lives become problematic and less peaceful. – Marino J. Dasmarinas