Reflection for November 15 Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time: 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:

What would happen if we no longer listen to God? We would feel no qualms about committing sin. Sin would become our wicked way of life until this kind of lifestyle ultimately destroys us. We might not fully comprehend the wickedness of sin until it’s already too late. 

This is how the devil actually works: he hides sin behind eye-catching appearances and temptation-filled situations, making it attractive to many of us. Therefore, we must recognize the warning signs—the red flags—that tell us we are slowly but surely falling for the devil’s many enticements. And what are these? 

They arise when we begin to love this world more than we love God, when we indulge in hedonistic actions, when we no longer heed meaningful advice. All of these are red flags warning us that we are self-destructing toward the devil’s den. 

We are self-destructing because God is no longer present in our lives. And we all know what happens to a person’s life when he/she shun God: there is no peace or contentment, only temptations, sin, and problems. Let us, therefore, confront temptation and sin, so that they would avoid us. The result is we would once again hear the voice of God.

Do you always listen to God? – Marino J. Dasmarinas