Waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to reveal himself

 

Welcome to my blog and peace be with you.

You will find here the readings of the Scriptures prescribed by the Catholic Church for today, with a short prayerful reflection. May they help us reach out to the God who created us and loves us.

Thursday 27 August 2020

Waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to reveal himself

Feast of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine

Prayer

O God, who console the sorrowful

and who mercifully accepted

the motherly tears of Saint Monica

for the conversion of her son Augustine,

grant us, through the intercession of them both,

that we may bitterly regret our sins

and find the grace of your pardon.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

 

First reading

1 Corinthians 1:1-9 ·

You have been enriched in many ways in Christ

I, Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle, together with brother Sosthenes, send greetings to the church of God in Corinth, to the holy people of Jesus Christ, who are called to take their place among all the saints everywhere who pray to our Lord Jesus Christ; for he is their Lord no less than ours. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send you grace and peace.

I never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ. I thank him that you have been enriched in so many ways, especially in your teachers and preachers; the witness to Christ has indeed been strong among you so that you will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed; and he will keep you steady and without blame until the last day, the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, because God by calling you has joined you to his Son, Jesus Christ; and God is faithful. THE WORD OF THE LORD

 

Prayerful reflection

All those who “who pray to our Lord Jesus Christ; for he is their Lord no less than ours” are ambivalent in their attitude. They are in this world and are part of this world and have responsibilities for life in this world. They are to contribute to the building up of ‘the earthly city’ and fulfil their ‘this world responsibilities’ and should be an example in all this. Yet, they do not belong to this world and look forward to life elsewhere. They are “waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” There are temptations to fall in love with this world grasping the few gifts it offers. Yet, these are temptations, because whoever we are and whatever our belief, we are travellers. We have ‘no lasting city here.’ We should only carry what we need for the journey and should keep our eyes fixed on our destination. Our destination is not a place but a Person. Our destination is Jesus, who will reveal himself on our last day. May Jesus, hidden in our heart, keep us safe till he reveals himself to us.

Psalm

Psalm 145:2-7

I will bless your name for ever, O Lord.

I will bless you day after day

and praise your name for ever.

The Lord is great, highly to be praised,

his greatness cannot be measured.

I will bless your name for ever, O Lord.

Age to age shall proclaim your works,

shall declare your mighty deeds,

shall speak of your splendour and glory,

tell the tale of your wonderful works.

I will bless your name for ever, O Lord.

They will speak of your terrible deeds,

recount your greatness and might.

They will recall your abundant goodness;

age to age shall ring out your justice.

I will bless your name for ever, O Lord.

 

Gospel

Matthew 24:42-51

He is coming at an hour you do not expect

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

‘What sort of servant, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you solemnly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the dishonest servant who says to himself, “My master is taking his time,” and sets about beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’ THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD

 

Prayerful reflection

Jesus will certainly come at the end of time. When that will be no one knows ‘not even the Son of Man.’ It is the closely kept secret of the Father. It is useless for us to speculate. But, Jesus will come very soon to each of us. When our time is over in this world, he will come for us. He wants to take us home. We should be ready. Do I look forward to his coming? Of course, there is a fearful aspect to his coming. We must pass through death and death is an enemy. St. Paul tells us it is the last enemy we must overcome. Yet for the one who loves Jesus, our faith can take away the sting and pain of death for the one who dies. It can console those left behind. There is a happy side to death too. It is our meeting with ‘The Great Lover’ who longs for us and in his human life sacrificed everything, including his life on the Cross, to have this moment of joyful embrace and life together for ever. Let us energetically prepare ourselves for this supreme moment of happiness.

May we have the Spirit to see life and death as Jesus does.

 

Let us pray.

Almighty God,

you are all light,

in you there is no darkness.

Let your light shine upon us in all its radiance,

so that we may walk gladly in the way of your commandments

And come at last to our heavenly home with you..

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.