Gospel reading: 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, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person 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.”
WHOEVER LOSES [HIS LIFE] WILL SAVE IT
Jesus teaches his disciples to prepare for the coming of the Son of Man at the end of days. They should not imitate the people in Noah’s days who did not care. They gave in to their titanic lust, symbolized by giants marrying women. They were not afraid of being punished. Violence was in their hearts. Only Noah and his family survived because they obeyed God.
Jesus also recalls the story of the wife of Lot, a nephew of Abraham. Lot left Sodom to escape from God’s judgment. People ate, drank, and engaged in worldly activities unmindful of their impending end. They did not fear the punishment for their immorality.
When the day came, Lot and his family were told to evacuate to a safer place and not look back. Lot’s wife disobeyed and became a pillar of salt. Her curiosity cost her her life. She thought she would help save herself by getting a glimpse of the fire and brimstone consuming Sodom. Instead she lost it. She had no business looking at the destruction of that city.
Losing one’s life means not listening to one’s caprices, addictions, and tendencies to know what one should not know.
The disciples will save their souls if they forsake showing power through physical violence, sexual abuse, and dangerous curiosity.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
