CAUGHY BY SURPRISE

CAuGHT By SuRPRISE

 

“Be vigilant at all times.” – Luke 21:36

 

A dead body lying in a grassy area near Mall of Asia was found by a street sweeper. He was wearing short pants with no shirt on; he was hogtied. A gunshot wound was found on his head. His body was already decaying, an indication that he had been dead for several days.

He was at the prime of his life. He was 37, an executive of a company, and had a promising career. But in a snap, his life ended in a violent death. Reports said that this man had been receiving several death threats. The question is, “Was he prepared when death knocked on his door?”

Nobody knows what lies ahead. We may be in the pink of health today but tomorrow a grave illness strikes us. One may have job security now but the next day, the company closes down.

We prepare a lot for our future but how about for our souls? How spiritually fit are we? We do not know the day and the hour Jesus would come. Let us treat each day as our last and perform our God-given tasks faithfully so when Christ comes, we will not be caught by surprise. Judith Concepcion

 

REFLECTION:

Make a soulcheck. If the Lord comes today, are you prepared?

 

Teach me Your ways, Lord, that I may live a life pleasing to You. I just want to be with You.

 

neveR think We hAve finished the RAce

 

One of the fundamental principles we must learn that governs the Christian life is that we should never consider that we have accomplished all that has been asked of us until the moment of our death. While we are still alive, we still have a mission to accomplish. This means that there is no such thing as a retired Christian. Yes, we may slow down as we get older; we may be less productive for one reason or another, but we still have a part to playin God’s plan — personal holiness and intercession for the spread of the Gospel, if nothing else.

St. Paul is a tireless worker for the Kingdom. I do not believe the thought of retirement ever crossed his mind. The principle he worked on in his life would have been something like, “While I have breath, I have life and I will do all that I can to further the spread of the Good News of our salvation through faith in Jesus Christ!” Paul experienced the saving grace and power of the Gospel and was not going to be happy unless he used every means and opportunity he had to share that experience with others. Let us pray that we will have a similar zeal for God’s Kingdom!

Even as regards the call to holiness, we can never let up our guard against sin or we will very quickly find ourselves reverting to the bad habits of the past. As they say in Alcoholics Anonymous, “once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic,’ so with sinners, “once a sinner, always a sinner,” albeit a redeemed one if we live under the grace of God. We must always seek to grow in holiness as an antidote to falling back into sin. The further we progress along the path of holiness, the harder it will be for us to fall back into serious sin. It may still be possible, but at least we will have done our best to avoid that horrible possibility.

As we begin a new year in the Church’s calendar, let us begin with the decision to make personal holiness one of our goals. Let us seek to unite ourselves more closely with Christ, The Holy One. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

How far have I progressed in holiness over the past year? Am I still struggling with the same old sin? When am I going to change?

 

Holy Spirit, I need Your help to transform my life from sin to holiness. I know You have the power to help me; help me to have the humility to ask and rely upon Your help.

 

St. Saturninus, Martyr, pray for us.