There was a time when I was little envious of the catechumens on the journey to their baptism. Those who were properly catechised and instructed seemed to have a fire burning within them by the time they are baptised into the church. They who have come from different walks of life, cultures, race, beliefs were now united as One with me through Jesus Christ our Lord! Once sinners now saints, children of God our Heavenly Father so loved by Him on the journey to greater Holiness with and in Him. Why then did my fire only start burning later on in my life when I was born into our faith and brought up in it? Why did I not feel any fraternal love for my brethren from the very beginning?
The answers are found in today’s Gospel. I was asleep! I was too comfortable with inertia and so stubbornly refused to be dressed for action. The wick of my lamp was made damp by my worldly ways and attachments. All these changed, when I finally responded to my Lord’s call and decided to follow Him with all my heart. I was made new once again through His mercy, love and grace. This renewal, this transfiguration in me is not a one time thing for me, for you or even the neophytes! We have to consecrate ourselves daily to the sacred heart of Jesus. We have to commit to knowing His Word and will for us and living it out in our lives. Only then do we stand ready, dressed for action with our lamps lit; ready to greet Him when He returns. Amen Alleluia!
First reading
Ephesians 2:12-22 ·
In Christ you are no longer aliens, but citizens like us
Do not forget that you had no Christ and were excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants with their Promise; you were immersed in this world, without hope and without God. But now in Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of Christ. For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by the rules and decrees of the Law. This was to create one single New Man in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God: in his own person he killed the hostility. Later he came to bring the good news of peace, peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near at hand. Through him, both of us have in the one Spirit our way to come to the Father.
So you are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household. You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit.
Gospel
Luke 12:36-38
Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit. Be like men waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those servants if he finds them ready.’
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