Luke 17: 26-37 (Friday, November 16, 2007)

In today’s gospel, Jesus is simply telling us that we need to always be ready because we do not know when the parousia would occur. It will may occur when we least expect it – maybe you would be in your desk at work; or your may be in the saloon fixing your hair or at Walmart shopping. The second important point from today’s gospel is that salvation is a personal invitation and not a communal invitation. Jesus calls the members of his church to be saved but this is in personal relationships with him. Judgment would be personal. Your spouse cannot stand in judgment for you; your parents cannot stand in judgment for you; your children cannot stand in judgment for you. You will go before the Lord alone and him an account of your stewardship – how you were able to respond to his invitation to you to be saved. That is what the last judgment simply is. Let us live our lives every day as people who believe in the parousia.

Prayer:
God our Father, thank you for the salvation which you have extended to us in the person of Jesus. Help us to respond wholeheartedly to this invitation to be saved, so that when you come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, you will say to us, “welcome home, good and faithful servants.”