Wis 18:6-9
Ps 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22
Heb 11:1-2, 8-19
Lk 12:32-48
Growing up, we lived close to our schools and we would always walk home. When we got home we did what any kid would do when no one was around. Watch television! Of course we had lots of homework to do; not only from school, but also homework from Chinese school, practice our band instruments and chores – things that my parents would want us to do before they got home from work. If we had started when we got home right away, we probably would have just been finishing up when our parents got home; but that was rarely ever the case. Instead we would watch all our favorite cartoons and shows and MAYBE do a homework assignment or two.
Now the TV room was next to the garage so when we heard the garage door open, that was our alarm to scramble and look like we were being productive. Because we knew, as you probably have experienced in your homes… parents are interesting creatures that apparently have a different concept of time and cause and effect. Because when my Mom would walk through the door and greet us, she would see whatever we were doing. And whatever we were doing would be what we have been doing all day. If we had the TV on when she came home, the assumption was that we were watching TV all day and we hadn’t done any work. If we were playing video games or on the computer, the assumption was that we were playing video games or on the computer all day long. Even if we were good and just turned on the television after finishing all of our work, when my parents got home the assumption was that we had playing all day. This, of course, was quite frustrating and the evidence submitted to the Court of the Chen Family would never hold up.
So we got smart. We would watch television all afternoon and then when we heard the garage door, we got our books and things out and looked busy!!! But somehow they knew… parents have some sort of secret power that allows them to figure out that we have been up to no good. Turns out, all they did was touch their hand to the screen of the television, if there was static or it was warm – we were watching TV.
Now I tell this story not because I wanted to confess shenanigans or reveal parents’ sneaky ways of figuring out what their kids have been up to, but because our scriptures speak about being ready for the Second Coming. Are YOU ready?
Christ says to His disciples, “Gird your loins and light your lamp and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.” Unlike my childhood, we are not going to have a garage door announcing the coming of Christ. The Master of the House will come and we are either going to be ready for Him or we are going to be caught unawares. No one knows the day or the hour. As it says in Wisdom, The night of the Passover was known beforehand to our fathers… We know that the day of reckoning is coming, what are we doing to prepare ourselves? It could be in a few minutes, it could be years. But it is coming; are you prepared to meet our Lord? Let’s not procrastinate and put off our work here on earth to the last minute, but rather prepare for the end.
We are the master of our own house, our mortal body; we must not only prepare for the end but live a life that is pleasing to God. If I had been doing my homework all afternoon, I would had proof to show my Mother that I worked hard and what I had been doing was pleasing to her; not just for those few minutes before she walked into the house. The good works that we do in this life go with us, the Faith and the Hope sustains us and keeps us going forward.
In the same way that we do not know when God is coming, we do not know when Satan will try to mess with us. Temptation and sin is all around and guess what? Hell is real place. [You think Texas is hot?] If we fail to keep the Commandments, to avoid sin and temptation, if we fail to live a life full of charity and compassion, and if we lose the faith – it is not God who will turns His back to us, but it is YOU who turn your back on Him. God does not condemn you to Hell; you condemn yourself because your soul is heavy with sin and vice. And no angel or saint will have the strength to lift you out of your filth.
Hell isn’t talked about much these days because we think that life is hard enough without adding more things to worry about. But guess what, the opposite is true it is one of the most important things to worry about. If the Love of God is not enough for you to desire Him, maybe the pains of Hell will scare you straight. It is not a made-up place, but one that is very real. For me – I would rather I desire God for Him and not just because I don’t want my rear seared. But sometimes that’s what motivates us. Those afternoons home alone were more productive when I knew that if I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, I’d get in trouble – [that bamboo tree that grew in our backyard was not for feeding pandas.] When we know what we are up against, we know that we must have faith and continue in our faith, to persevere and to see that: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.
When we see the example of Abraham, we see a man of faith – a man tested and tested. He was a given a promise of the greatest blessing of descendants, land, and prosperity. But he had nothing that would indicate that God was going to make good on that promise; only faith. He was told to relocate from the city into an alien wilderness; from having property to having nothing. He was told that he was going to have children, when both his wife and he were way past the age of having children. He was a given a wonderful son, Isaac, and then asked to sacrifice him – and all of this Abraham was willing to do because he trusted in God’s promise.
If Abraham, who did not have the benefit and blessing of the experience or knowledge that the Incarnate Son of God would come, suffer, die and rise again, for the salvation of the world, how much more should our faith be who have the benefit of the Incarnation and the Gospel of Christ: the Tradition of the Apostles, the prayers and supplications of the Universal Church, and the most blessed gift of the Eucharist in our midst? The blessings and benefits of our Faith are on our side, but it is up to you to avail yourself to it.
Sin, temptation, vice, and the devil surround us. We are steeped in the world and in sin – every single one of us: idolatry of money, status, work, and pleasures, anger, grudges, gluttony, sins of the flesh, pride, lies, gossip, theft, drunkenness, laziness, lack of charity and compassion; and probably the most egregious one of all: receiving our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, in this state of sin because you are too “embarrassed” that other people are going to judge you. Your pride and saving face is more important to you than protecting the sanctity of God and the state of your soul. If you have not been to confession in the last month or two, it would be a good idea to go. No, not just a good idea: it is imperative. If it has been years, then the urgency is even greater. There is no sin that is so great that God cannot forgive. Sin impedes and can even cut off our relationship with God – like really really bad cholesterol clogging your arteries. Go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Repent, purge yourself of these sins, and get rid of them. For our Lord says, ‘Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.’ We, who have the gift of Faith like Abraham, have been giving much, and therefore much more will be demanded of us.
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