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.”
ON THE DAY THE SON OF MAN IS REVEALED
Jesus describes how he, the Son of Man, will be revealed. He gives as warning the stories of Noah and Lot when people were carefree and did not mind the morality of their actions. The day of judgment will come when people have lost fear of the Lord and become violent, unworthy of their dignity as having been created in God’s image and likeness.
That day will come when people have become hedonistic and sexually promiscuous, living according to their base instincts, not caring about God’s commandments, and failing to obey divine instructions, as in the days of Lot. The wife of Lot was turned into a pillar of salt when she did not flee straight away but looked back (cf Gn 19:26). When the day comes, there will be total destruction. Floodwaters will come rampaging on homes and livestock. The disaster will put an end to our wicked civilization. No one will be spared. It will be of no use to move from one place to another. The story is a call to live virtuous lives. We must be attuned always to God’s will. Setting God aside is a sin of autonomy. Without his Son Jesus, there is no true and lasting joy in our hearts – no matter how much we eat, drink, and enjoy the pleasures of the world.
Is your life God-free, very secularized?
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SOURCE: “366 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.