REFLECTION/HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 32ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR 1 16TH NOVEMBER 2023

REFLECTION/HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 32ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR 1 16TH NOVEMBER 2023

Wisdom 7:22-8:1; Ps.119; Luke 17:20-25

Christianity is not a Game

As the liturgical year comes to an end, the readings, repeatedly, are reminding us of the end of our individual lives. Does this continuous reminder make sense to us? How can a man who is hail and hearty, having a good business and family, made to cast his mind on the end of his life? There seem to be no sign around him that his end is eminent. Maybe such reminder will make more sense to a dying person or at least a bereaved person. The point here is that, unless things around him suggest so, man is not willing to think about his end.

This situation has given rise to the mentality that the end of the world will be associated with some signs for identification. To assume that the coming of God’s kingdom will be associated with signs is to practice Christianity in self-deception – a Christianity that is not aimed at entering into a relationship with Jesus but simply winning heaven like a lottery.

Instead of men to busy themselves with sharing the life of Jesus, they ask questions about the time for the coming of God’s kingdom. In a way, Jesus did give the time of the coming of God’s kingdom. He says that the kingdom of God is here already; meaning that the time for repentance and renewal is now. The preaching of the word of God is the only sign for the coming of God’s kingdom. Any other sign is fake.

Therefore, so long as we hear the word of God, we must live everyday with the consciousness that death can knock at our door anytime. The fact is, there is no definite method that death follows in visiting, such that we can be sure when it is eminent. People suffer terminal illnesses and recover, while people fall sick only for a brief time and they die. The end cannot be perceived categorically in signs. Death can knock at your door and pass by (without opening); it could also knock and enter without waiting for you to open.

The first reading tells us that wisdom turns holy souls into friends of God. Who is that wise man? It is he who is always prepared for eventualities just like the five virgins who took extra oil in the parable of the ten maidens. To practice Christianity in search of time and signs rather than Jesus, is tantamount to idolatry. Christianity is not a game to be played but a live to be lived.