November 29, 2014
Saturday, 34th
Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Lk 21:34–36
Jesus said to his disciples: “Be on your guard; let not yourhearts be weighed down with a life of pleasure, drunkenness andworldly cares, lest that day catch you suddenly as a trap. For it willcome upon all the inhabitants of the whole earth. But watch at alltimes and pray, that you may be able to escape all that is bound tohappen and to stand before the Son of Man
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”D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Today’s Gospel warning to “watch at all times and pray” prepares us to enter into the season of Advent. Let me share with you this experience. Passing by a pharmacy I spotted its security guard seated on a mono-block stool smiling while reading and replying to text messages. Suddenly a street kid bumped on him and ran away with his cell phone. Another guard securing the next building came to the rescue and intercepted the boy. Then I said to myself: To what avail is employing a guard who does not guard? Surely no one will hire another guard to secure him. A non-vigilant guard will not keep us safe, for he cannot even secure himself.
Watching in prayer at all times demands the alertness of a vigilant guard. Only in vigilance can we read the signs of the times properly. One of these signs we already know and have experienced: our nature as finite beings. This sign should be read well to make us understand that we are always exposed to the incidents of death, among which is death’s unpredictability. What makes it an urgent concern is its character of coming when least expected. I met a priest who had refused to take a heart surgery against the advice of doctors and friends. He has prepared himself for death long ago when the doctors gave him only a few years more to live unless he heeded their advice. Almost twelve years have passed and he is still alive. When one is prepared to die, death appears to be detached and disinterested.
The kind of game that death plays keeps us on our toes all the time. When we think we are prepared death can come as slowas the graduation day to a bored law student. When we are not prepared at all, death comes as swiftly as the break of dawn.The only way to triumph over death is to be prepared by being vigilantin prayer. Vigilance in prayer rules out over-indulgence in a life ofpleasure, drunkenness and worldly cares. We know from today’s Gospel reading that drunkenness and over-indulgence in a life ofpleasure distract us from the urgent duty of preparing for the unexpected day.
Like the guard tinkering with his cell phone while on duty, we’dbe squandering precious life if we don’t prepare. May the coming Season of Advent dispose us to a life of preparation for the time of God’s visitation! – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:[email protected]. Website:www.frdan.org.
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