Homily for October 21st, 2016: Luke 12:54-59.
In today’s
short gospel reading, just six verses in Luke’s gospel, Jesus expresses his disappointment,
bewilderment, and sorrow that people who know how to read the signs of the time
in worldly matters are clueless when it comes to judging spiritual signs, which
are far more important.
“When you see a cloud rising in the
west you say immediately that is going to rain. . . When you notice that the
wind is blowing from the south you say it is going to be hot.” Jesus’ examples
are as up-to-date as the morning newspaper. So is his challenging question:
Why, then, can you not see, Jesus asks in effect, that my presence, and my
words, require a response.
No less
up-to-date is Jesus’ example from the law courts. If you are entangled in a
legal dispute, he says, beware of pressing the matter for decision before third
parties -- a judge and jury. That could turn out very badly for you. Try, if
you can, to reach a settlement with your opponent before the matter comes to
trial. Good lawyers continue to give this advice to their clients today.
How easy it is
to delay our response to the Lord, especially when we are young. I’ll deal with
that later, we tell ourselves. Right now I want to get on with my life, to live
it up! None of us knows how much time we have left. The only time we ever truly
have is the present time, right now.
The Lord looks for our response to him today,
not sometime in the future. And the response he seeks can be expressed in one
short word: Yes.
“Yes, Lord, I believe in you; I trust
you; I want you in my life – and at the center of my life. You alone can give
me the happiness I seek, and true joy. Come then, dear Lord Jesus, come into my
heart; fill me with your love, your joy. Then I shall be truly happy, and
desire nothing more -- when I am living completely for you, and for you alone.
Amen.”
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