When we observe all of creation, we witness the beauty and the masterpiece of the Lord, our God, who made everything good according to His word and His rule. Many people can experience the wonders the world has to offer, from the brightly star-lit nights to the flowers that brighten the day with their beauty. However, so much is lost to those who cannot see or experience God.
That is why we must bring the presence of the Lord, our God, to all those who have not yet experienced Him. We want them to revel in His glory and be filled with His love to live life to the fullest.
As disciples, with the advent season approaching and the start of a new year, we must stay alert and be on our guard to resist all evil. We do not know the date and time when the Lord will come again. Let us be prepared to welcome Him with joy as we remain steadfast in His love. Amen.
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First reading
Wisdom 13:1-9
How have those who investigated the world been so slow to find its Master?
Naturally stupid are all men who have not known God and who, from the good things that are seen, have not been able to discover Him-who-is, or, by studying the works, have failed to recognise the Artificer.
Fire however, or wind, or the swift air, the sphere of the stars, impetuous water, heaven’s lamps, are what they have held to be the gods who govern the world.
If, charmed by their beauty, they have taken things for Gods, let them know how much the Lord of these excels them, since the very Author of beauty has created them.
And if they have been impressed by their power and energy, let them deduce from these how much mightier is he that has formed them, since through the grandeur and beauty of the creatures we may, by analogy, contemplate their Author.
Small blame, however, attaches to these men,for perhaps they only go astray in their search for God and their eagerness to find him;
living among his works, they strive to comprehend them
and fall victim to appearances, seeing so much beauty.
Even so, they are not to be excused: if they are capable of acquiring enough knowledge
to be able to investigate the world, how have they been so slow to find its Master?
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Gospel
Luke 17:26-37
When the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed
Jesus said to the disciples:
‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It will be the same as it was in Lot’s day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed.
‘When that day comes, anyone on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must not come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back either. Remember Lot’s wife. Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe. I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed: one will be taken, the other left; two women will be grinding corn together: one will be taken, the other left.’ The disciples interrupted. ‘Where, Lord?’ they asked. He said, ‘Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.’
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