Study: Consider a moment when you were held accountable to a task.  What did it feel like?

Pray: Is there something that needs to be attended to in your life?  Ask the Lord for guidance to carry it out.

Serve:  How can offer support to someone who is working through a challenging task right now?

Mass Readings – 33rd Sunday of the Year

On this last weekend of Ordinary Time we have some interesting readings to consider.

• 1st Reading – Proverbs offers praiseworthy qualities of a good wife.
• Psalm – “Blessed are those who fear the Lord.”
• 2nd Reading – We remain sober and alert in the light of Jesus Christ.
• Gospel – Jesus tells the parable of the three servants entrusted with different amounts by their master, explaining what happened when the master returned home.

Our faith assures us that the world will one day come to an end.  This is not meant to scare us, but rather to guide us with the knowledge that our lives have meaning and purpose as we prepare in this life for the life to come.  Furthermore, when we die we understand that there will be an accounting of how we lived the precious and holy gift of life.

It’s this notion of being accountable that I suggest as a reflection today.  The Book of Proverbs extols the virtues of a hard working and compassionate wife, reminding the reader that “charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting.”  What lives on are the virtues, prayers, gifts of the Spirit and graces which God pours into our hearts which we share with one another.

And while we know that there will be a Day of Reckoning, we do not know the hour; this insights reminds us to follow St. Paul’s advice to be “sober and alert” each and every day – ready and eager for the Lord’s return.

What’s more, when that day comes, we will be judged with the awareness of our own unique situation.  Like the three servants in the Gospel, we have all been given different talents, opportunities, resources and skills.  It is neither a comparison nor a contest; rather, we will each be judged by how we worked and waited with what God put into our lives.

The invitation today:  Are we prepared for the Lord’s return?  Have we attended to our duties and tasks, or do we have unfinished business?  Are there situations that require our attention and care?  Sooner or later, the Lord will come…may he find us ready and waiting.

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Note: This post was first published on November 13, 2017.