💖 HOMILY - OCTOBER 24 💖

First Reading - Romans 5:12-21

Gospel - Luke 12:35-38

Most of us are scared to talk about death or final judgement. Why? It's because either we feel so attached to the present life we have and want to forget the other reality of life or we feel unprepared to embrace and accept it. Today the readings call upon us to look into our lives to face this reality of death and final judgement by preparing ourselves for this everyday.

In the first reading, Paul contrasts the sin of Adam with the grace of reconciliation brought by Jesus. The word 'Adam' means 'man' or 'humankind'. It's to be taken as a common noun rather than a personal noun. When Paul speaks about the sin of Adam, which refers to the sin of humankind collectively rather than the sin of an individual person. He emphsises that death crept in our lives due to the sin of one man (humanity collectively) but the grace of reconciliation or salvation has been brought by Jesus through his suffering, death and resurrection. The sin, Paul mentions about, is the sin of disobedience or pride but he underlines that this vice has been ruled out by the obedience of Jesus exhibited on the cross, thus we have been restored to God. Paul makes a key statement in saying that we have been made righteous or are saved by Jesus which is God's grace bestowed on the humanity.

The gospel of today speaks about preparedness for the second coming of Christ. The theme of preparedness is interwoven with rich images. Jesus urges his disciples to remain prepared for the coming of the Lord. In fact, this coming of the Lord refers to the second coming of Jesus or Parousia. This second coming of Jesus was initially believed by early Christians to be immediate but the delay in their time made them believe that it is not immediate but imminent (this refers to sure coming at any time). 

Jesus urges his disciples to remain prepared for the parousia. But how to prepare? It is to be made by observing the teachings of Jesus. In the account, the faithful servant is found to be observant and alert in fulfilling what he was entrusted with, which, in other words, refers to his preparedness and alertness. The faithful servant is also found to be persevering in his faithfulness. As a whole, what Jesus means by our preparedness is that it should be not for a while but we should go on doing what we are expected to do or persevere in doing our duties or responsibilities faithfully.

Dear friends, what is the Day of the Lord? It's indeed the glorious coming of Christ to judge the humanity but it also refers to our end of life here on earth. The question is, are we prepared? St. Paul teaches us in the first reading that Jesus has won us salvation through his obedience which also means we are given a sure hope of salvation in Jesus but it doesn't end here. We need to prepare ourselves for the grace of salvation by our lives according to the teachings of Jesus. However, Jesus also urges us in the gospel that our observance of the teachings of him should not be intermittent but constant. We have to persevere in doing what we are expected to do. Consequently, we can be sure of the gift of our preparedness and perseverance.

May God help us in our endeavour.