Thursday in the Twenty-First Week of Ordinary Time

Scripture Readings:   1 Thes 3:7-13;  Mt 24:42-51                                         

“Keep awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming”(Mt 24:42).  Are we to give up sleeping and eating and leading normal lives?  Is that what it means to keep awake?  No, because Jesus also says, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.  Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left” (Mt 24:40). 

Outwardly their daily lives look the same, normal; but inwardly one is awake, the other is not.  The pure of heart, especially those who receive Jesus every day in the Eucharist, are getting ready.  Inwardly they will be awake, even if the Son of Man comes like a thief in the night at an unexpected hour.

 

 

Thursday in the Twenty-First Week of Ordinary Time

Scripture Readings: 

Fifty thousand followers of the false prophet, William Miller, believed the world would end on April 18, 1844.  But the light of the rising sun shining on their faces the next morning triggered their disappointment and bewilderment. Prophets who predicted the end of world have one thing in common.  All were wrong.  They believed too much.  But many people believe too little, as if Christ might never come.  Cardinal Newman writes, “Judging by Scripture you would ever be expecting Christ to come.  Judging by the world, you would never expect him.”  So Jesus says, “Stay awake … be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”   What is the best preparation?  Our daily celebration of the Eucharist.  When we receive Jesus every day on our tongues and in our hearts, we are certainly preparing ourselves very well for the day when he will come to welcome us with love into his kingdom.