The Coming of the Lord

Thurs. 21st Week Year I

Gospel (Mt. 24, 42-51)

Our Lord tells us today to stay awake, for we do not know the day nor the hour that He is coming.  We must be prepared.  Right now, everyone on the east coast is preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Irene.  She is courteously sending out heralds of her coming in dark, lumbering clouds and fits of gusting winds.  And all the weather people are diligently keeping vigil for us from their technological watch towers.  Although we do not actually know the day or the hour of her coming, Irene is very well documented.  I cannot help but compare the relative predictability of a hurricane to Tuesday’s sudden earthquake phenomenon.  Then there was no herald, no warning.  Immediately it was upon you.  It overtook you wherever you were, and invaded you while you were doing whatever you were doing.  I imagine the coming of Christ at the end of time will be like that.  In fact, each day He comes to us just as suddenly in the unexpected person who needs our help, the untoward circumstance that tries our patience, the surprising loveliness that crosses our path.  If we are preoccupied with advancing our personal agendas over other people or indulging our selfish desires like the unfaithful servant in the Gospel story, then we will not be ready to respond to the challenge of the Lord’s coming, today or on the last day.  But if we are constantly seeking His face and doing His will, then when He arrives unannounced, we will tremble, not with fear, but with joy to finally see Him whom our soul loves.  May it be soon.  Come, Lord Jesus!