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Gospel: Luke 17: 26-37
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is on the housetop
and whose belongings are in the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.
And there will be two women grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other left.”
They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”
He said to them, “Where the body is,
there also the vultures will gather.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Jesus doesn’t parse words. Certainly, in today’s Gospel, he goes straight to the point.
“I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left.”
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There are many things in life that can be shared – a movie, a car ride home, a bottle of wine, or a bed.
But one thing that cannot be shared – or borrowed – is our relationship with God. We each have our own. You have yours and I have mine.
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Today Jesus reminds us that each person will be judged individually by what that relationship has been like.
While we cannot read hearts the way God does – nor can we determine how much grace each person has received – there are a few basic questions we can ask ourselves.
Do I love my neighbor? Do I care for the poor? Do I pray? Do I seek the Lord?
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There are some things in life that cannot be borrowed. A person’s relationship with God is one of them.
So, how will I nurture mine today?
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Image credits: (1) Light and Manna (2) Light, Hope, and Truth, Faith: Believing and Pleasing God (3) Pin on Church, Pinterest, Marvin J. Ashton