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Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it
will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah
entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” Luke
17:26–27
As we enter into the final weeks of the liturgical year, we begin
to turn our attention to the final coming of Christ. In today’s
Gospel, Jesus gives us the example of Noah and Lot. In both of
their stories, people were eating, drinking, marrying, buying,
selling, planting and building up, until the very day that the
floods came to destroy the earth at the time of Noah and fire
rained down from the sky at the time of Lot. Both Noah and Lot were
saved, but many others alive at that time met with sudden and
unexpected destruction.
Jesus says that the “days of the Son of Man” will be similar to
these previous two events. At an unexpected time, Jesus will return
to earth, and the Final Judgment will ensue. So His message is
clear: Be ready at all times.
Though we are familiar with this teaching of our Lord, spoken many
times and in various ways in the Gospels, many people do not heed
the message. It is easy to believe that you always have tomorrow to
change, and so you give into temptation today. And then tomorrow
comes, and the temptation is once again embraced with the thought
that you will work on it tomorrow, and henceforth. We can easily go
about perpetuating our sins and embracing our temptations while we
have the ongoing good intention of changing tomorrow. This is a
mistake for two reasons.
First of all, it always remains a possibility that our Lord will
indeed come today and that today truly will be the end of the
world. Or, it always remains a distinct possibility that your life
will come to an end today, suddenly and unexpectedly. If that were
to happen, would you be fully ready to stand before the judgment
seat of Christ? Most people would not, at least not fully ready.
Thus, this should be motivation enough to work tirelessly today to
be ready now and every moment hereafter.
But we should also see this prophecy of our Lord as applying to
every present moment of every day. Jesus is always coming to us,
suddenly and without warning, inviting us to serve Him by grace.
This Gospel passage states that “Whoever seeks to preserve his life
will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.” This applies to
the end of our lives and to the end of the world, but it also
applies to every present moment of every day. If we continually
seek to lose our lives, meaning, to choose the Heavenly realities
over the temporal earthly indulgences we are daily tempted with,
then we will also daily experience the grace of salvation, here and
now, in every present moment of our lives.
Reflect, today, upon whether or not you regularly seek to lose your
life for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Do you continually choose
grace, mercy, Heaven, obedience, love, self-sacrifice, compassion,
forgiveness and the like, every moment of every day of your life?
If so, then our Lord will continually bestow the gift of His saving
grace upon you here and now, preparing you for the ultimate moment
of judgment. If not, then you will be more like the people of
Noah’s and Lot’s time who met with sudden destruction when they
least expected it. Live for God now, today, in this moment, and you
will be eternally grateful you did.
My ever-present Lord, You come to me always, suddenly and
unexpectedly, and so often I do not hear You or perceive Your
presence. Please help me to live continually for You and by Your
grace, choosing Heavenly realities over temporary indulgences. May
I live this way always, meeting You every moment of my life and
anticipating that glorious final meeting with You at the time of
judgment. Jesus, I trust in You.
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Featured image above: Noah and His Ark by Charles
Willson Peale, via Wikimedia Commons
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