Today's Message: 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Wisdom 18: 6-9; Hebrews 11: 1-2, 8-19; Luke 12 32-48

Am I anxious about my life ending here on earth?  Do I envision Heaven as a better place?  Do I look forward to be in Heaven or am I afraid of this concept?  Do I realize that Jesus has promised Heaven to all who believe in Him?  Do I plan on ‘working on Heaven’ in future years, when I may be closer to the end, being sickly or older?  Do I put off to tomorrow what I can do today?  What fears do I have about Heaven?  Am I afraid that I am not prepared for Heaven or that I’m still not worthy of heaven?  Do I live in fear of things in my life or future things?  

I remember a prayer from my youth 'Now I lay me down to sleep.’  This is a classic children’s bedtime prayer from the eighteenth century.  The earliest version was written by Joseph Addison in an essay appearing in The Spector on March 8, 1711.  It says:  

  “When I lay me down to Sleep,

    I recommend my self to His Care;

    when I awake, I give my self up to 

    His Direction.”

A later version printed in  The New England Primer, the one I remember,  states:

  “Now I lay me down to sleep

    I pray the Lord my Soul to keep,

    If I should die before I ‘wake,

   I pray the Lord my Soul to take.”

Some recent versions change the last sentence:  “Guide me, Jesus, through the night  and wake me with the morning light.”

Jesus is teaching us in the readings to be vigilant, but not to worry about the 

‘coming of God’s kingdom’  even though we don’t know the time nor the hour.  Perhaps the best question is what do I think Jesus means when He talks about the ‘Kingdom’?  In John 18:36, Jesus states: “My kingdom does not belong to this world”; so often we feel that this means ‘the kingdom’  is somewhere else in a place we call ‘heaven’.  Scripture scholars share an important point:  In Matthew’s gospel, written before Luke’s Gospel, ‘heaven’  is a euphemism, substituted for God.  Why?  The proper name for God was not used in Jewish speech or writing because it was considered too sacred.  So ‘heaven’ is not a place but rather a person. It is God’s very self.  THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT IN REFLECTING ON TODAY’S SCRIPTURE PASSAGES.

In the Book of Wisdom we hear often that to be a ‘wise person’ one must serve God above all else.  Today’s reading is taken from the account of the final plague of Egypt ( Exodus 11).  Moses and Aaron are giving the people the final instructions for the night of the Passover.  It is God’s promise that they will be totally protected that night.  So the people knew exactly what they had to do to be saved.  Just as God has protected them in the past, God would continue to strengthen them and all people who believe.  

It is the same encouragement that Paul is suggesting in his letter to the Hebrews.  Abraham is a model of this faith.  He put his trust in God’s promises.  He hopes for things he can’t see or hasn’t experienced.  As Paul states:  “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.”  In his brilliance Paul shows how Abraham and his descendants died still awaiting the fulfillment of God’s promise.  Just looking at the fact that Isaac was not killed shows Abraham complete trust that “God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol.”  They trusted in God. Now we can see that this  ‘near’ sacrifice of Isaac prefigured Christ’s own death and resurrection.  The lesson from these first two readings is NOT TO LIVE IN FEAR BUT IN HOPE.  

In the opening of the Gospel, Jesus tells us this:  “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”  What this means is that as His disciples, we are not to be afraid.  Jesus came, lived, loved, taught, performed miracles, showed compassion and gave the correct interpretations of God’s eternal plan.  He didn’t leave us alone.  He showed us how to live and how to love.  As a result we should adopt the lifestyles that reflect all the values that Jesus showed us and taught us.  He also insisted on us being alert and being  prepared.  Each one of us needs to be aware, watchful and alert as we prepare for “… the master’s return.”  Another point is that we do not know when this will happen.  When will Christ come at the end of the age?  No one knows…Jesus tells us this.  I have lived through a number of ‘known certain predictions when the end will come’…It hasn’t happened. Jesus told us this point blank:  no one knows, only the Father.  Matthew 24:36 states, “But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”   But Mark puts it this way “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mk 13:32) Since this is the case the only way to be sufficiently prepared is to be constantly prepared.  So the question is:  How am I living my life NOW?  Peter wants to know too.  

Unfortunately so many Christian preachers have avoided Jesus’ teaching and have used the ‘approaching end times’ as a way to frighten people into believing.  Even Santa Claus has remnants of this, ‘You better watch out, you better not cry…’   I remember Jimmy Carter suggesting that Christians should live their lives as though Jesus was coming this afternoon.  But this is not just waiting but being in action.  The slang word ‘woke’ is derived from the African-American Vernacular English expression “stay woke’ used as a political term referring to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice and racial justice.  Jesus gives two very interesting examples of ‘being prepared for an event we really don’t want to think about:  That’s the day we are going to meet our Lord, not just in prayer, nor in the sacraments, but at the end of each person’s life journey.  It certainly is a meeting we want to put off as long as possible or not even think about. Jesus tells us today to prepare for it, because we are procrastinators. How to do this:  Live and love, be compassionate and caring, forgiving and merciful, each day, each moment of each day:  Living Now in Love.  

I reflect on:

• What life lessons has Jesus taught me?  Do I live them or put off living them?
• Do I look to Jesus’ life in ways that keep me ready for His return?
• What gifts have I been given so I can live the Beatitudes: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the imprisoned, comforting the dying, visiting the sick?  
• I honestly ask myself (I should do this each week) ‘Am I sharing my time and talent as well as I possibly can with others?  Am I overlooking an area where I might be of service, even a simple gift of time?

Sacred Space 2019 states:

   “Think of moments when you have been most spiritually alert.  Times when you were paying attention to things and disposed to welcome people or change.  Jesus seems to be getting at this kind of mentality, this kind of heart that stays awake. It’s not something for the clever only:  it’s for everybody.  I pray to have alertness and readiness for a new prompting of the Spirit, for God to work some new grace in my life.

  What helps me remain alert to the Spirit?  I pray for awareness of habits and distractions that dull my spiritual senses.”