THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2009 - THIRTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
WISDOM
7:22b–8:1
In Wisdom is a spirit
intelligent, holy, unique, Manifold, subtle, agile, clear, unstained, certain,
Not baneful, loving the good, keen, unhampered, beneficent, kindly, Firm,
secure, tranquil, all-powerful, all-seeing, And pervading all spirits, though
they be intelligent, pure and very subtle. For Wisdom is mobile beyond all
motion, and she penetrates and pervades all things by reason of her purity. For
she is an aura of the might of God and a pure effusion of the glory of the
Almighty; therefore nought that is sullied enters into her.
For she is the refulgence of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of
God, the image of his goodness. And she, who is one, can do all things, and
renews everything while herself perduring; And passing into holy souls from age
to age, she produces friends of God and prophets. For there is nought God loves,
be it not one who dwells with Wisdom. For she is fairer than the sun and
surpasses every constellation of the stars.
Compared to light, she takes precedence; for that, indeed, night supplants, but
wickedness prevails not over Wisdom.
Indeed, she reaches from end to end mightily and governs all things well.
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LUKE
17:20-25
Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus said in
reply,
“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce,
‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among
you.”
Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one
of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who
will say to you,
‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in
pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to
the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer
greatly and be rejected by this generation.”
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As we move into the last days of the Church year, we are presented with readings on the end times and on our own end times. Like many today, the Pharisees wanted to know when the end would come. They phrased it as the Reign of God because they thought that would be the end of time.
Jesus first tells them that they cannot tell when or where and then tells them that the reign of God is already in their midst. Jesus himself ushers in the end times. So if someone asks you if you think we are in the end times, tell them; "Yes, we have been in the end time for two thousand years." These are the latter days.
The point is, we shouldn't go looking here and there to see if the things happening today are portents of the Second Coming. That pretty much is a waste of time. We would do better to look at our lives and see if we are ready. Jesus may come today, tomorrow or in another thousand years. We may die today, tomorrow or in a few years. We know we will not last more than a few decades. Are we ready? Is there some area of our lives that needs to be made right? Are there broken relationships that need to be mended? Are there habits of sin the need healing? Are we confident that we can stand before God and accept his love?
Whatever in our lives needs work before we can stand before God must be dealt with today. We cannot wait because we do not know how much time we have. We may not have much, or we may have a lot. Either way we need to be prepared.
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Lord Jesus, show me the thing in my life that need your healing forgiveness. Help me to be ready to meet you when you come. Help me to be prepared to live a life of discipleship until you come.
Deacon Ed