First, last, only

Sisters and brothers in Christ, we often go through life thinking that we a invincible. However, as today's (8/25) Gospel reminds us, we must always be prudent because we do not know when our time on earth will come to an end. It may sound morbid but that it is the reality of life - it will come to an end.

The Gospel passage reminds me of a prayer that FrPaul-Michael Piega always said before Mass - may we celebrate the Mass as if it were our first Mass, our last Mass, our only Mass. Therefore, as Jesus tells us: "Stay awake!" in our spiritual and prayer life, in our relationship with God because we will stand in judgment before the throne of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when our pilgrimage on earth ends and God calls us to himself.

Fortunately for us, as Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians, the Good News is, "God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. . . so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."

. . .

Gospel of the Day

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.”