Luke 21: 5-11 (Tuesday, November 27, 2007)

Many Christians today are afraid of issues of the last judgment. We are carried away by prophesies of when the world would come. As Jesus tells us in the gospel, no one knows the time that this will come. The only motto for Christians should be “Always be ready.” I often ask people what they will do if they knew the Lord was coming tomorrow. I usually get interesting responses. Some will say they will spend the whole day in the church praying; others will say they will confess their sins and ask for forgiveness, for others, they will reconcile with all those they have wronged or who have wronged them. My response is that you don’t want to wait to know when the Lord will come before you begin to do these things. You have to start leaving your Christian life as you should, so that when the Lord comes he will find you doing the good work you always do. Christians should look with anticipation to the judgment. The only commandment at the judgment is love. If we live out radically the law of love Jesus has given to us, the judgment day would be a celebration of our victory over sin and death.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, help us to love as you have commanded. Strengthen us every day of our lives to abide in this love, so that when we face you at judgment, we may be found worthy to enter into your kingdom.

Matthew 17: 22-27 (Monday, August 13, 2007)

The disciples of Jesus are overwhelmed with grief when Jesus tells them of his passion, death and resurrection. This was most probably a shocking revelation to them. They did not expect Jesus to surrender himself to the hands of men, so that he would be killed. We can only imagine what was going on in their minds when they heard this. Why were they overwhelmed with grief? May be because they considered their time wasted. Now, people will laugh at them because their master has been killed. What if he doesn’t resurrect? The resurrection event has taught us that Jesus does not make empty promises. Whatever he says is true and it will come to pass.

Today, let us live our lives as someone who truly believes in the death and resurrection of Jesus. This means being patient with other people even when they get on our nerves. Jesus was patient even with those who were crucifying him.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, you crucifixion and death has taught us humility and patience. Help us to be patient with those whom we find the most difficult to be with and give us the graces we need to appreciate the good in them.