No One Knows His Coming

NOVEMBER 12, 2021, FRIDAY
MEMORIAL OF SAINT JOSAFAT, BISHOP AND MARTYR (Red)
CYCLE B - YEAR I
Lectionary: 495

Reading I
Wis 13:1-9

All men were by nature foolish who were in ignorance of God,
    and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing him who is,
    and from studying the works did not discern the artisan;
But either fire, or wind, or the swift air,
    or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water,
    or the luminaries of heaven, the governors of the world, they considered gods.
Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods,
    let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these;
    for the original source of beauty fashioned them.
Or if they were struck by their might and energy,
    let them from these things realize how much more powerful is he who made them.
For from the greatness and the beauty of created things
    their original author, by analogy, is seen.
But yet, for these the blame is less;
For they indeed have gone astray perhaps,
    though they seek God and wish to find him.
For they search busily among his works,
    but are distracted by what they see, because the things seen are fair.
But again, not even these are pardonable.
For if they so far succeeded in knowledge
    that they could speculate about the world,
    how did they not more quickly find its Lord?

Responsorial Psalm
19:2-3, 4-5ab

R.    (2a) The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day,
    and night to night imparts knowledge.

R.    The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

Not a word nor a discourse
    whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
    and to the ends of the world, their message.

R.    The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

Alleluia
Lk 21:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GOSPEL
Lk 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.”

REFLECTION:

Everything in this life is passing, we are on a pilgrimage back to our heavenly home and so we are not to be tied to anything or anyone to the detriment of forgetting who we are and where we are bound. This earthly life will pass away and so we are not to build our house on the shifting sands of earthly life, but on the rock of God’s plan for us. Where your heart is there will be your treasure also.

The only way to be prepared is to live a good life, one based on love. Then the coming of the Son of Man will not be a disaster but our final liberation.

PRAYER:

When doubt or fear weigh down my spirit, Lord, give me the grace to surrender to you in hope. May I trust in ‘the plans of your heart which endure from age to age’

(Psalm 33:11).