#i was grinding in november fr

[cvlutos]

“No Nut November” Pt.2

| Repost: 01.09.23 | 1.3K | Mature |

NRC 2nd Years X GN!Reader

| CHARACTERS 18+ | Sexual Themes | Masturbation | Flirting | Sorta Creepy | Voice Kink | Etc. | Proceed with Caution, Dearest. |

♡ RIDDLE ROSEHEARTS ♡

LOSER #ONE

He honestly doesn’t know about NNN, until he heard Ace and Deuce talking about it and so he asks Trey. Who simply laughs out loud and sorta explains it. Riddle literally goes red in the face and wants to collar anyone who speaks about something that is so embarrassing. Until you casually mention it and think it’s funny. He’s sorta like that’s dumb. He’s totally not doing NNN, not even for you. But he thinks about it, various times throughout the day. I honestly believe that Riddle isn’t a very horny person, so he rarely gets hard till the most random of times. He sorta just plainly ignores it as he does homework in his bedroom. Absentmindedly chewing on his pen, think about you and how’d you touch—

He'll win, simply because he can’t bring himself to jack off. Though most likely had the most intense wet dream known to man. He woke up shaking and shuddering, sweating as if he fucked fr. He swears that would never happen. He would never put his dick in you—can’t make eye contact with you for weeks without becoming red in the face.

“Off with anyone’s head who participates in something so disgusting—No, I’m not red in the place!”

♡ RUGGIE BUCCHI ♡

LOSER #TWO

Loud and proud with “winning”. Knows all about NNN and he and his friends probably keep track to make sure each other doesn’t fail. So at the same time, he’s tryna preserve his NNN streak, he’s tryna ruin it for everyone else. He’s taking the most outta pocket pictures and will just casually show everyone, like one where you slip in a puddle, another why are you biting your lip. Leona is his biggest victim. He thinks he’s untouchable until you go outta your way to get him a gift. The only gifts Ruggie ever receives are the rare gifts from friends and family from the Afterglow Savannah, or the various things Leona “gives” him. So a gift from his crush.

He’s crashing and burning. Fumbling over his words as he darts off to his room. Tripping over himself as he struggles to unbuckle this belt, kicking his door close with a slam. He’s almost shaking from excitement, like a dog in front of a fresh meal. Leaning against his dorm and bucking wildly into his hand. Will act like he never came to the thought of you, though several say some heard him whimper your name.

“No, I didn’t lose… no, I don’t whimper.”

♡ AZUL ASHENGROTTO ♡

ULTIMATE LOSER.

I’m sorry but when it comes to you and trying to not masturbate. He’s failing. Losing before he even knew about NNN. Like, he’s so embarrassed when Floyd and Jade talk about as they walk to class, his face is pink before he’s coughing it off and calling NNN a children’s game. He’ll not participate in something so silly. Like bsfr.

As if he hadn’t his face shoved into a pillow and his blankets shoved between his legs. Hair, disheveled, and face red as he grinds into the multiple blankets, at exactly November 1st, 4:13AM. Like the sun isn’t even out.

“That is a childish game—No! I didn’t ‘jizz’—Don’t say such brash things! Especially in public, Floyd!”

♡ JADE LEECH ♡

WINNER #ONE

He wins simply because he wants to win. He has no carnal desire to ‘fuck his hand’ nor ‘ruin his bedsheets’, both kindly phrased by Floyd. Don’t be mistaken, he has before, seeing as he’s extremely interested in the human body. But he already knows what he likes and what makes him tick, of sorts. But you. What makes you hot and bothered? Are you into biting? Maybe blood? Maybe you like it rough, or maybe you like it soft. Which one is it?

This NNN isn’t going to be for him to have self-control. It’s going to be for you. He simply loves the embarrassed look you have when he gives you shy touches or whispers in your ear. He loves to see the way humans react. His goal isn’t to just make you lose NNN by cumming, he wants to be there and be the one that makes you cum.

“Please do tell, what is it you’re into? Shall we explore together?”

♡ FLOYD LEECH ♡

LOSER #FOUR

Loud and proud, this time with losing. Zero shame in talking to you about it. All in your ear, whispering about how hard you made him and how he came to you. Not even in a private place, probably during passing period when the halls were all crowded. Now don’t be mistaken, he “tried” for a good 60 minutes till you were minding your own business. Probably you yawned in his vicinity. He blames you for losing.

Floyd is such a flip-floppy person. Like he’s mad, he’s lost one moment, cause if you didn’t just walk around all alluring, then he wouldn’t have fucked his hand. But he’s also happy, cause he gets this type of reaction outta you. Plans to fuck you at the end of the month. One way or another.

“Don’t be like that Shrimpy~ I was just tryna have some funn hallway chit chat~”

♡ KALIM AL-ASIM ♡

LOSER #FIVE

Don’t feel bad for him. Everybody and their momma knew Kalim wasn’t winning. Everybody in that dorm knew that the moment he said he was doing NNN, he was going to lose. Like he’s the only one shocked when he’s having difficulty winning like he isn’t a huge simp. Like you say ‘jump’, Kalim is like ‘How high?’ He’d jump off a cliff into the ocean if you asked him to.

Lasts a day. A day. Longer than Jamil thought, who gave him 5 hours max. Others betting 20 minutes. So he shocks everyone, but at the same time is it a flex if everyone can hear you getting down and dirty in your room and everyone in a 10-mile radius can hear the person who has a crush on name being moaned. Kalim acts normally the next day, but Jamil looks so ashamed.

“Yeah, I lost, but it’s just a game. And I don’t mind losing [Name] is just so irresistible!”

♡ JAMIL VIPER ♡

UNDECIDED.

Truly can’t decide whether he would win or not. He’s only participating because of Kalim, who begged. So he’s playing. Which he’s proudly like, ‘I got this, no way I’m losing.’ Until you pull up, and around a lot more and he’s genuinely enjoying spending time with you, to the point you showing up in his dreams. One day in class he blanked out and had written your name with his last name. Suddenly he’s avoiding you like the bubonic plague. Like he sees you in the hall, he’s spinning around, dragging Kalim the other way.

I’ve changed my mind. He’s losing. He probably got a huge boner from spending time with you in his dorm room and thought that he could ease the pain and annoyance of his boner without cumming. For someone who’s in the dorm of mindfulness, why did he think that work, as he stares at his homework that’s now painted in his mess.

“I’m not avoiding them… I’m just taking a shortcut.”

♡ SILVER ♡

WINNER #TWO

He can barely stay awake to do homework. He sure ain’t staying awake to jerk off. Though he knows about NNN, because of his very loud dormmate, known as Sebek Zigvolt. Who challenges him. Silver, half awake and tired, agrees. Definitely forgets, and his only saving grace is him falling asleep mid-masturbation. Kid, you not. Has woken to his limp dick in hand on multiple occasions. Though I do believe that Silver stays very alert even in his sleep, so no one has caught him with his dick out. He’s been close.

He can barely stay awake to do homework. He sure ain’t staying awake to jerk off. Though he knows about NNN, because of his very loud dormmate, known as Sebek Zigvolt. Who challenges him. Silver, half awake and tired, agrees. Definitely forgets, and his only saving grace is him falling asleep mid-masturbation. Kid, you not. Has woken to his limp dick in hand on multiple occasions. Though I do believe that Silver stays very alert even in his sleep, so no one has caught him with his dick out. He’s been close.

“I won… oh okay…”

ⓒ 2023 love-thanatopsis — all rights reserved. Any sort of plagiarizing, copying, modifying, translating, editing of my works are strictly prohibited.

[nk3nna]

My Goals and inspirations

Daily Goals:

Get out of bed before 9AM

Read at least 10 pages of any book

Revise your subjects for the day

Workout/ Go on a walk

Stretch in the morning

2L of water

Weekly Goals:

Complete one week of my 75 Hard

Finish any book

Change bedsheets and do laundry before Sunday

Monthly Goals (November):

Successfully stick to my revision plan

Do every day of my 75 Hard

Embody the new version of me

Keep up with school work

What am I working towards?

Finishing 75 Hard

Mastering everything on paper one in all of my subjects by Christmas

High grades on tests

Current Inspirations:

The Wizard Liz

A new school year means that I need more motivation, summers been so boring meaning i’ve been so lazy. I’ve lost the grind however, not working won’t get me anywhere. We’re adopting the Liz mindset this school year

Sexxy Red

This one my seem a bit random however, when have you ever seen her with someone and they’re not happy?? Never!! I’m trying to be like that fr.

JT & Kali Uchis

Both effortlessly pretty icons but what i love about them both is that

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

17th November >> Fr. Martin's Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Luke 17:26-37 for Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time: 'So will it also be in the days of the Son of Man'.

Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA) Luke 17:26-37 When the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed.

Jesus said to the disciples: ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It will be the same as it was in Lot’s day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed.

‘When that day comes, anyone on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must not come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back either. Remember Lot’s wife. Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe. I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed: one will be taken, the other left; two women will be grinding corn together: one will be taken, the other left.’ The disciples interrupted. ‘Where, Lord?’ they asked. He said, ‘Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.’

Gospel (USA) Luke 17:26-37 So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

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.”

Reflections (6)

(i) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time 

According to the Book of Ecclesiastes, there is a ‘time for every matter under heaven’. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus mentions some of the human activities that the term ‘every matter’ covers, namely, eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, marrying wives and husbands. This is the stuff of ordinary day-to-day life. These activities and many others will always be with us, in every time and place. Yet, Jesus warns against the danger of becoming so absorbed by these essential activities for life that we are completely unaware of another reality that is even more important, what he refers to as ‘the days of the Son of Man’. The ‘days’ or ‘day’ in question is that moment at the end of time when the Son of Man is revealed in all his glory. We have no way of knowing when that day will come. Yet, what we do know is that the glorious Son of Man who is to be revealed at the end of time is the same risen Lord who is with us always until the end of time. In that sense, the ‘days of the Son of Man’ are the days of our lives. The Lord reveals his presence to us each day, today. The value of our daily activities can so absorb us that we fail to see beyond them. The first reading invites us to contemplate the Author, the Creator, through the grandeur and beauty of his creatures. The term ‘contemplate’ might suggest going off on our own to a lonely place to pray. However, we can contemplate the Lord in the midst of all our activities, surrounded by God’s creatures. Contemplation is a way of seeing that brings us beyond the surface of things to the Lord who reveals himself to us from the heart of life. What is said of Woman Wisdom in the Jewish Scriptures can be said of the Lord, ‘She graciously shows herself to them as they go, in every thought of theirs coming to meet them’. 

And/Or

(ii) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Each of us in our own way is involved in the daily business of life. The ordinary day to day matters engage us. Most of our time is taken up with just living in that very ordinary sense of the word. Jesus refers to this rhythm of daily living in this morning’s gospel reading. He speaks of eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, buying and selling, planting and building. This is the stuff of life. Without it life could not go on. It is no surprise that it takes up so much of our time and energy. Yet, in the gospel reading, Jesus warns against becoming so absorbed by the ordinary routine of life that we never look beyond it or look at a deeper level. In that context of ordinary human activity Jesus speaks of the day of the coming of the Son of Man. That will be a day that puts everything we do, the ordinary business of life, into a totally different perspective, an eternal perspective in a sense. We need something of that eternal perspective before the arrival of that day of the Son of Man. The glorious Son of Man, the risen Lord, is already among us. There is a sense in which he is arriving in the course of our day. The gospel reading warns against becoming so immersed in our day to day affairs that we fail to take notice of him or pay attention to him. We need to be fully immersed in our world with its various comings and goings while at the same time not being so absorbed by that world that we forget about that someone greater who stands among us calling out to us, inviting us into a personal relationship with him. It is out of that relationship that we then engage with the nitty-gritty of life.

And/Or

(iii) Friday, Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s gospel reading speaks about the activities of eating and drinking, taking wives and husbands, buying and selling, planting and building. These will always be some of the main activities of any human life. We could add to that list. Jesus reminds his listeners that in the time of Noah people were all engaged in these activities when, suddenly, disaster struck, the flood came and all these vitally important human activities seemed less important. On this basis Jesus warns his contemporaries not to become so absorbed by these very human and necessary activities that when he, the Son of Man, comes at the end of time, they will be unprepared for his coming and caught off guard. Jesus is reminding us that we need to keep a proper sense of perspective. The activities of life can be so absorbing and so wonderful in many ways that they can become an end in themselves. There is a deeper dimension to these activities which we can miss. The Lord who comes at the end of time is present to us in and through all of our daily activities. The Lord is present in all things. We need that contemplative approach to life which allows us to recognize the Lord present to us in all our activities. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We encounter the Lord in and through the flesh of life. If we are open to his presence at the heart of life, then his coming to us at the end of time or at the end of our own earthly time will not take us by surprise.

And/Or

(iv) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The gospel reading this morning warns against being so absorbed in the ordinary things of life that we neglect what is of ultimate importance. The reading speaks of eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, marrying wives and husbands. These activities and many others are the stuff of life. They are very important. Life could not go on without them. They are so important that we may to see them as of ultimate importance; this is all there is. Yet, above and beyond all of that necessary activity there is a deeper reality, what the reading refers to as the day for the Son of Man to be revealed. The Son of Man is revealed at the end of time and at the end of our own personal lives. The Son of Man is also revealed in the here and now; the Lord calls out to us in and through the ordinary activities in which we are always engaged. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. All of life is an invitation to contemplate the Lord who is at the heart of life. He calls out to us, as we go about our daily lives, to seek him with all our being just as he seeks us with all his being.

And/Or

(v) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The gospel describes a situation in which the normal business of life is suddenly cut short by some unexpected event. The eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, marrying wives and husbands, that went on in the days of Noah and the days of Lot were suddenly brought to a stop by catastrophic events, the great flood and the destruction of a city. In our own lives we can have a similar experience. We are caught up in the ordinary day to day business of living, and suddenly something happens that renders all of that of secondary importance. What is it that keeps us going when those familiar routines no longer sustain us? For us as Christians, it can only be our faith in the Lord. We know that when all else changes, when everything else collapses around us, the Lord endures. In the words of yesterday’s gospel reading, ‘the kingdom of God is among you’. God’s reign, God’s power, is among us, in and through his Son. When all else fails, we can rely on that. Like Saint Paul, we can discover that God’s power is made perfect in weakness. In our times of greatest weakness we can experience the Lord’s power most fully.

And/Or

(vi) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The first reading this morning speaks of those who take things for gods. They give to God’s creatures an allegiance that is due to God alone. This is the most obvious case of giving more importance to something than it merits. We can all be prone to that in different ways. We can get things out of proportion. One of the tasks of life is to keep things in proportion. For us as Christians keeping things in proportion will always mean keeping the Lord to the fore and not allowing other things to come between us and him. The ‘eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building’ that the gospel talks about are all important, but they are not of ultimate importance. Only God and his Son are of ultimate importance and we are called to live in a way that acknowledges their sovereignty. As Jesus says at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well’.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[jayflrt]

hi hi

i’ve been alright, i’m just terrified bcs uni’s starting soon and i’m not a fan of being a student 😭

and omggg i listen to rnb too!! rnb, pop and indie rock are my fav genres. and recently i’ve been getting into jazz (bcs the guy i like plays piano and was in a jazz band)

(sorry if i’m coming off like an interrogator but genuinely curious -) how do you come up with the concepts for your fics? like both written and smau?

i’m a writer myself and as i’ve read your work (and enjoyed it all) it just struck me that you’re plotlines are quite original!!

maybe i just need to spend more time on enhablr or smth but yeh i haven’t read fics quite like yours 🫶🏽

omg yeah it’s hard getting back into the uni grind :(( i hope it goes well tho !! 💗 also that’s so cool!! do you have any fav songs you’ve been listening to lately ?? :’) HAHAH that’s so funny this guy i used to like in high school was into jazz too 😭 universal straight dude experience fr

also u don’t come off as an interrogator at all dw !! D: but i think i sort of just get inspired by things around me or interests i have and just start writing :’)) like the starbucks au was literally just bc i like starbucks and have done. weed 🧎‍♀️ and thought the two things would be funny together HAHAHA as for sugar daddy i used to have a sugar daddy on discord 💀💀 but p much just wrote it based off those sugar daddy bots on twitter HAHAH and no nut november was bc all my guy friends were so passionate about making it through november it didn’t feel real to me 😭

as for my written works, it’s the same thing tbh 🥲 i honestly feel like i write pretty cliche tropes TBH (at least on my nct blog) but they’re fun to write :’) i also just get randomly inspired with plot ideas when an idol posts pictures that suit a niche concept or smthn LOL like how i ended up writing the a-list for jay 😭 but thank you!!! 🥹🥹💖 i’m rlly honored you think so highly of my works ♡

[x-rambles]

Saturday, November 4, 2023

Ugh I've been meaning to journal when I feel some type of way...

Babe, I cannot believe. A car?? You have a car, and you have a house....It's definitely extremely complex...because honestly, you are that girl. I mean I remember, there have been times where you had stuff, where you were blessed, and thank the Lord for those..that's what this is giving. But honestly, you always knew work. And work is what you're knowing now...like it's good to have opportunities, its beautiful, there's nothing more amazing. And it's important that I balance my gratitude with discipline. Babe, you are doing SO MUCH right now! You're doing okay. You're really seeing that "amazing at one thing while garbage someplace else" HEAVY...butt it is balanced, which is good. UGh, girl your relationship. It's honestly getting crazy. It's also interesting to see how the car changes things. At the end of the day, cmon, it's clear this man is open to providing for you. There's these nuances and technicalities screwing with things now. Like, okay you don't have as many resources right now to be as giving back as you'd like....okay ya he's pushing himself in ways where he may not have as much resources as he would like to...it's interesting it's like we're both in this crazy building mode. It's like we're literally building a rocket together. This must sort've be what the movies are like. During the montages. The montages go so fast, and its life it's not that fast. In life, the lows are not brief seconds that pass us by. In life, the highs are flashes of wonder that feel unimaginable. But honestly, for me, it's a flash. It felt beautiful driving down the road, driving in MY car. But I had to drive to my responsibilities. I was problem-solving and writing to-do lists. But I also picked up some candies, and a crystal heart to put on my bookshelf.

That is a wonder. Looking at the Chrystal heart it is truly GORGEOUS. It's gorgeous and I picked it up because I had the flexibility now...I mean, the wrong name was on it when I was there, so I had to leave, but I WENT--And my love drove me there to grab it with the correct name!

Ught, my love. We've been fighting all week! It's wonderful that we got to talk today...in the car, about our feelings. I get so frustrated, I get so down, and then he pays for my car to be fixed..it's crazy because he did set a boundary explaining the car is my responsibility...but he built me an office, hes helping with my car, he is unreal...It's loaded as he does want things, and want more. And I do try, and I am overwhelmed. That's what I was getting at earlier. It's like we're building a rocket, but one day we will blast into the stars. I feel like I'm grinding for what is to COME. I feel like it will always be work but it will change. I feel like this evolution could catapult things. It's big, ya know!

Ugh, we all know I need to journal more...I haven't been journalling all year fr with all the grinding...I really pray these days, that these times will lead to my retirement. I really pray that this SWEAT, this WORK, will lead to mornings filled with activity, laughter, and learning. I hope it leads into a beautiful home to build together, that I will continue to grow humble, and balanced, and working--in order to develop into the woman that I will need to be for that season. That I will wake up early, and I will have a late nightt, putting in the hours, and thinking, about intentionally building my family, about having and creatinig experiences, about connection. Lord, I am freedom dreaming once again this is on my heart. So many other dreams, have been on my heart. I've been in my dreams, in my apartment, in my baddie, cute girl era, I have seen what the Lord has had in store for me, and I see it again. I feel it in my heart God, the day when resources are plentiful, and cycling, doubling, and compounding. When generosity and love can be the focus, and I begin to look at others and remember my journey--I have seen it Lord, I have had it on my heart, I have seen it and wanted it, I have prayed it, and journaled it, and then WATCHED it Lord. I am struggling, but I KNOW dreams exist. I know DREAMS come true. I know YOU are in control. What is on my heart is because of you, what is my next move is because of you as I am created in YOUR vision Father God.

Lord, I am tired, I am a bit lunchy, and I may need some rest..some rest for an early morning. So much is transpiring, but here we are...all day long.

Love Absolutely, and Always XoXo C

[fang-fr]

I’ve forbidden myself from buying any more eggs (except maybe for my FR-nniversary in November), but also I have NO nests hatching tomorrow and it’s making me all itchy. I’m just gonna grind the coli until I get an egg or several to satisfy my dark hunger

[riverdamien]

Don’t Look Back!

Don't Look Back!

Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop, and Martyr

Gospel

Lk 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."

----------------------------------

Remember the wife of Lot.

Consider these five words, cautionary and a gift of today's Gospel. While fleeing Sodom Lot's wife told not to look back, turned her head around, and turned to salt.

Recently I returned to where I grew up, began my ministry, college, and seminary. I was like a child in wonderland as I flew to St.Louis, recalling old memories, soon learning that being attached to the things of the past is a form of death.

The photo above is my first church in Marston, Missouri. Now empty, I imagined returning, buying the building, and opening a soup kitchen for the poor in the area, (LOL). I knew I no longer belonged there, and will never go back again. For I have shed the skin of that time and moved on, and so it is with each segment of life. We can not look back.

I have learned, that as each passage of life ends, and another begins to not look back, but forward.

Greg now 33 years ago, is standing on the cusp of parole, in prison for 25 years for murder. As we talked, he returned to the San Francisco of the past, his life in the past, and his regret of the life taken. Greg talked of going back to old San Francisco, hoping to make up for his crime. He felt his life was empty.

I reminded him that the past is gone, to look back was futile, and he would simply be turned to stone--figuratively. Greg must let the past go, and look forward.  For to truly complete our lives we have to accept the incomplete.

Remember the wife of Lot! Look forward, not back. We need to trust in God, following not only God's direction but life's direction-going forward with faith and hope, living for what will be, not what was. Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

----------------

 Celtic Advent begins forty days before Christmas, the evening of November 15 through Christmas Day. It is a time of looking forward to the coming of Christ within ourselves, and service outward to the world in which we live.

    This year we are observing Celtic Advent. We are participating in a retreat entitled Advent and Christmas: bridges to contemplative living with Thomas Merton sponsored by Oblate Seminary. It is a contemplative retreat on Tuesdays beginning November 16 through Tuesday, December 14 from 1:p.m.- 3:00 p.m . central time on zoom. If you are interested contact: Oblate Theological Seminary online, the cost is $25.00.

    The textbook is Advent and Christmas: bridges to contemplative living with Thomas Merton.

    We will be reflecting upon this retreat and inviting people to share during this time. You may obtain the book through Amazon. Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

--------------------------

Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

www.temenos.org

415-305-2124

"Life is short.

We do not have too much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel with us.

So be swift to love.

Make haste to be kind.

And the peace of God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-will bless you and be with you always. Amen"

Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

Giving Tuesday has become an international celebration of giving. This year, #GivingTuesday will once again show the power of communities coming together to support the causes closest to our hearts.

We have three days for shopping and getting deals- Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday is a day for giving back. People all over the world participate in this annual event to remember the "reason for the season." This year, Temenos Catholic Worker will be participating to ensure we can continue to be out on the frontlines of faith-based advocacy for climate, street youth, and human dignity. Our goal is to raise $2,000.

St. Francis and his friars went out on the roadside asking for alms to fund their work. Just like him, we are in solidarity with the poor and marginalized, we care for creation and raise consciousness on the need to hear “the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” We need your support to do it!

Help us raise awareness about our goal by sharing your support on social media and using the hashtag #GivingTuesday to get your friends and family involved.

[flightrisingreviews]

Positive Review: DragonoftheVoid

Who: DragonoftheVoid #336911 (I will use the gender-neutral “they” when referring to this user in this review as I could not find any of their preferred pronouns.)

What: A coli grinding service.

Why: This user was incredibly speedy in getting my two orders done within a good time frame.

When: November 08, 2017, FR time 17:53 through 21:45.

Explanation: This user recently (as of the date mentioned) opened a coli grinding service (up through the Golem Workshop). They got my two orders done swiftly and they even surprised me by getting my second order done before they said they would. Although they have since transitioned from pay-per-battle to pay-per-half-hour since I have last ordered from them, I feel secure in placing my trust in this user’s competency in getting their orders done well, and will most likely be ordering from them again.

[trashikino]

here is an about-meme-thing,,, usually i do not do these but im feelin it today and i got tagged by roomie so its like....i Gotta,,, i must Appease her

anyways,

Rules: Tag 20 people you’d like to get to know better (im not going to do that because i dont know 20 people. in fact. im probably not tagging anyone tbh)

Name/Nickname: Jess (or, depending on the quantity of Jess-es in a chat, “small Jess”)

Gender: Gal pal

Star Sign: Aries 

Height: 5′2 (I could be 5′3!!! I COULD STILL GROW OK)

Sexual Orientation: I’m gay. like really really gay,,,,harold im a lesbian

Hogwarts House: i have never read or watched harry potter, or bothered to figure this out. I think my friends are still arguing over gryffindor/hufflepuff tho

Favorite Color: shit man it’s hard to pick,,, i like greens and blues a lot. 

Favourite Animal: four legs and fur = friend. reptiles too tho....all domestic animals and the usual Basic Ass faves like foxes and wolves...i just love them ok....i love animals they’re so good..........

Average Hours of sleep: 5-6 during school, 7-8 during Not School

Cat or dog person: I love them both deeply but if push comes to shove, dogs

Favorite Fictional Characters: literally almost any girl i can say is gay, including all of the LL cast, izetta, flip flappers, any video game i’ve played ever,,, do i need to say more thfh ((love live cast does hold an Extra special spot for me, though, i love these girls...... :’) ))

Number of blankets I sleep with: Usually two, but if I’m somewhere cold i will pile them upon myself like nobody’s business

Favorite Singer/Band: yes

Dream Trip: I’d like to go visit certain people, like online buddies, but I don’t really have travel destinations in mind. if i could just like, teleport into all my pal’s houses and play video games or watch a movie or whatever it’d be rad

Dream Job: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

When was this blog created: November 2015, I think. I made it after I put up ygtbk 

Current number of followers: 559

When did your blog reach its peak?: My guess? Probably after I took a fuckton of prompt fills, just before the Muse finale came out and between that and sunshine, when everyone was desperate for content

What made you decide to make a Tumblr?: I had one before this blog, but i was feelin pretty ehhhh about it. I made this one for writing and prompt fills! and for fun bc i like me some Relatable Content 

Birthday: April 18th! 

Relationship status: Single and ready to achieve maximum gal pal

Siblings: Two younger siblings, one brother one sister. 

Wake up time: For school i wake up around 6:00 - 6:45, depending on how late I stayed up the night before/homework completion. off of school, it fluctuates WILDLY because I’ll stay up until like 4am and sleep until noon or stay up till two and wake up at nine like...who knows my dudes....

Lemonade or sweet tea: Lemonade 

Day or night: Night!

Coke or pepsi: I almost never drink soda. I remember liking coke more tho

Calls or texts: Texting, but good luck getting my reclusive ass to text first RIP

Ever met a celebrity?: I met an internet friendo, mon, once and im still 90% sure i went into cardiac arrest on the spot, tbfh i’ll count that as famous....

Smiles or eyes: I don’t know what this is asking??? both?? like if u dont have both then idk what to tell u....ppl can smile but their eyes r like MURDER or look kind of nice w their eyes but their mouth is like I WILL GRIND YOUR BONES TO MAKE MY BREAD so like....pls both at once....

Country or city: are we assuming best-case or worst-case scenario bc like....both could be cool or both could be shitty and it really depends on the town and people tbh

Last song i listened to: Funky at heart by studio killers

this is the part where I’m supposed to tag people, but idk who to tag because I know these things can get annoying fr some people....I guess if u wanna do it and you’re a mutual go wild?? yeah

[whiteclericmaris]

Okay... I think I grinded enough and July ends tomorrow.

There is one thing I have to do on the 1st of August to not be late for it that is not FR related but at least get in the process of making it.

So far the only thing for sure that I know for the Month of August that is in my Wish List is:

-Cinder Nymph

-Molten Marauder

Those are the for sure things. Tomorrow I have to come up with a dress up plan for Flameforger's Festival.

Other monthly goal is to expand the lair at least once but it is getting harder accumulating all those treasures and not impulse spending it (especially during Fest weeks).

After I forage grind the gathering to the max I'm just gonna keep digging for the rest of the month while foraging for those pink muns even if probability is almost 0. I need Blossom before November but that can wait (unless staff does something new once August 16 arrives).

I'm just gonna keep breeding for all the fodder at the moment so my 2 nests will be occupied. I need at least 26 to exalt so my fodder tab is slowly going to get full.

I've got 9 in hand so I need 17 more hatchlings.

I'm running out of breeding pairs though... (like I have the Orca/Raspberry/Orchid checked for August 5 to start breeding but that still leaves me with an empty nest tomorrow)

I'm just gonna breed my Earth Dragons as they are the only kinda consistent pairings although one was really supposed to be fodder to begin with.

[patchrillo]

V - Love With A Stranger

I came over to watch Imperial Highway with you.

Remember, the movie with the kid from Attack The Block in it?

Remember you said the movie was hella depressing? Eh, never mind haha

Anyways we hadn’t seen each other in a while. Maybe a few months…

Anyway the movie was over after-while.

It was kind of late maybe 2am. I don’t remember exactly.

We had already eaten the Nick’s 20pc lemon pepper box we shared so I decided that I should leave.

You had to get up for work pretty soon. I say, “well let me hit the road it was nice seeing you.”

You replied, “same to you mister.”

I loved that shit, when you call me “mister.”

Instantly I grew hard.

But we lacked the time so I kept shuffling on-shuffling on towards the door.

We made our way through your narrow entry way. The heat from the laundry room quickly singed my neck and ears.

Feeling toasty I figured I’d get a quick hug and be about my way.

Hugs between us have always been a tinge awkward since we’re basically the same height - we could never agree on whose arms get to go over the other’s.

But tonight it was different… You instantly gave in. My arms up top wrapping you up. Your arms around my waist.

You randomly complimented me on my butt. Asked if I had been doing my squats. I laughed.

Never one to just take a compliment, I paid you one back. “You smell good”, I said.

I sat next to you for a full feature length movie and hadn’t smelled the eucalyptus spearmint lotion that I brought you those several months ago when you were still mine.

But oh do I smell it now. Strongly inhaling your scent with my nose buried in your neck.

You know, you were always so sensitive. So easy to read.. Easier than most, at least.

I could tell the presence of my warm face, my full lips and strong nose was exciting your body. You reached up from my waist and slowly drove your nails into my back. At this point, I’m sure you could tell I was fully aroused.

Whatever spacing that was there when I went I for a simple church-hug was basically nonexistent now.

I pulled you in closer so you can feel what you were missing and you instantly let me know you got the picture by reaching down and stroking my thick black dick through my jeans.

“Damn did you bring enough dick for the whole class, Mister”, you asked. I laughed and blushed.

I guess you had truly forgot what it was like but I’d be quick to remind you.

Fr strong wafts of air and inhaling your scent I moved to nibbling on your body as if I were Dracula.

Slowly flicking my tongue on your neck, right beneath your ear. You know I was always attentive and caught on fast.

I had you right where I wanted you.

Your knees grew weak as you held yourself up by grabbing the back of my neck.

You quickly remembered how thorough I am like the swing of a pro golfer.

Mouth still on your neck as I flicked my tongue like a small tornado. Fluid and articulate.

You trusted me in my skill. You knew i could give you something to feel and you wouldn’t wake up with a hickey the next day. I’m no amateur.

You’re breathing heavily as you dug in my back some more.

I whispered in your ear, “spread your legs for me.” You obliged so I slid my hand down your the front of your black leggings.

I didn’t instantly slide a finger in. No I wanted to tease you a little. So I cup my hand and just firmly placed over your engorged lips.

By this point I took my left hand and slid it down the back of your leggings & gripped your left asscheek. Basically wrapping your body up, pulling you closer to mine.

I brought my neck up and looked you in the eye - a millisecond almost felt like eternity- and kissed you deeply in the mouth. My tongue was your tongue. Your tongue was your tongue. We kissed for a few more moments. You bite my lip in anxiety for what I’m about to do to you next - my hand still cupped to your pussy.

By this point there was a puddle the size of Lake Erie inside the cuff of my hand. So aroused you start dripping into my hand.

Holding you in suspense long enough & I pulled down your leggings in one motion. A small rip formed so I guess I still owe you $9.50 for a new pair haha

Now all my hands were free.

Still in the hallway i moved my hands slowly up your thighs. Then, out and up your hips. And over your ribs cuffing your breasts. Then suddenly my hand was around your neck. I choked you against the wall, but careful so not to wake your kids.

Uncuffing my hand I took my right middle finger and gently ran it from the back of your pussy up to the front and softly around your clit. Then, the same with my index finger. Lather, rinse, repeat. Wax on. Wax off. Doing so until there were enough coats over my fingers to lubricate them enough before I touched your clit.

Now I’m stroking firmly from your pussy to your clit. Back and forth with a little clockwise motion.

We were maybe 7 minutes into this whole hallway situation and you still hadn’t been penetrated one way or the other.

But you knew I didn’t forget. I slid the middle and ring finger in knowing you could take the double. But I don’t stroke or finger fuck you right away. I wanted to feel your pissy clinching and tightening on my fingers.

So I started sucking your breast. The left one because for some reason thats the only one you could can cum from.🙄

Working my neck I sucked your nipple passionately as if I were kissing you in the mouth. Slow and long suction, working it in every direction. You start shuddering like a child at a bus stop in November.

Your pussy clinched. Throbbed and pulses like a frat boy’s heart after he’d just done a line of Peruvian marching powder.

And then…..the downpour came. All in my hand. All down your thigh. You’re a nasty girl and you knew Daddy liked just that.

I hoisted up your 5'7, 165lbs frame by the legs and walked you back to the bed.

Your cum on the stomach of my shirt I threw you on your back in the bed & started undressing you.

You lied there gathering you breath as I pull whatever was left of your leggings off. I grabbed your leg. Any leg. It didn’t matter to me and put your big toe in my mouth.

Sucking slowly and staring intently back at you. While I did so you couldn’t help but to play with your pussy until I was done.

You massaged your pussy at the same speed that I’m sick your toes so I sped up.

Twirling my tongue between the webbing today your big toe and the next.

I stopped just before you could cum - because I wanted to catch every drop of the nectar in my mouth. It’s far too sacred to let it the bed catch it. I started giving you head. Working my lips and tongue as I work your clit back & forth in my mouth. I pulled the hood back on it for extra exposure and just to give you something to clinch onto I slid in two fingers & curved them at the back of your pussy.

I promised myself that those fingers were just to give you something to clinch on to help you cum faster at your speed but I couldn’t help myself. I was then curling and stroking inside your pussy as I sucked on your exposed clit.

You grinded your pussy in my face and gripped on to the back of my neck. I almost thought I was going to suffocate.

“PLEASE…just FUCK ME,” you screamed.

Music to my ears. That’s all I wanted to hear. I undressed in front of you. Taking off my black v-neck followed by my grey sweatpants. Yeah…I knew what I was doing wearing those.

I pull down my black hands boxer briefs. My dick immediately soared back up like a beach ball when you try to hold it under the water.

I slide the condom on that you handed me from your bedside dresser drawer then slide you closer to me.

But you know that’s not how I like so I flipped you over on your face & brought your hips upwards to my waist.

You’re already wet and open after cumming two times by now so I introduced your pussy to my thick, throbbing dick once again after such a long time.

If your pussy had a tongue it would’ve sung Amazing Grace on the spot. The way it gripped my dick a Marine’s wife would be jealous that her man didn’t hug her that way after a deployment.

I gripped your ass, spreading it open with my thumbs. I’m just as big a fan of myself as you are of me. I wanted to watch my dick work in and out. Over and over again as your pussy submits to my anatomy.

“Yes daddy. Deeper please”, you moaned.

I oblige. Tossing you on your back i watched as you bit your lip as every inch of this curve filled you up..

You grabbed lower back instructing me to fuck harder and deeper. And once again I oblige.

I sound like a track star trying to squat 375. You sound like the blonde as King Kong ravishes your body.

You somehow find the strength to say, “SHEEYIT, daddy is about to cum.” “Damn babe me too”, I replied.

It wasn’t soon after that the fireworks shot off. I let off more animalistic grunts, the likes of which not even the Crocodile Hunter could identify.

As I collapsed over you. Dick still hard, i let you use what’s left of me as you continue grinding your hips against me. Fucking me from underneath. Then you suddenly pushed up until I slid out. I knew what that meant. Waterworks.

Once again I was wet up with your love.

We lied there for some time in silence. Maybe 20 minutes or so. I don’t know.

I got up.

Put my pants on and chuckled, “okay I got to go for real this time.” “Okay, I’ll just stay here and lock it behind you in a minute because I got to get in 5 hours.”

I kissed you on your forehead knowing it would be another season or two before I saw you again.

You looked up back at me with a look in your eyes that you knew the same.

And there it was. I had made love a stranger and walked away with a bit more of soul than I took last time.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

19th November >> Fr. Martin's Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 25:14-30 for the Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A: ‘I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent’.

Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Gospel (Except USA) Matthew 25:14-30 You have been faithful in small things: come and join in your master's happiness.

Jesus spoke this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of Heaven is like a man on his way abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one; each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out.

‘The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more. The man who had received two made two more in the same way. But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

‘Now a long time after, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made.” ‘His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness.”

‘Next the man with the two talents came forward. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness.”

‘Last came forward the man who had the one talent. “Sir,” said he “I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered; so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back.” But his master answered him, “You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered? Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have recovered my capital with interest. So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the five talents. For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away. As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”’

Gospel (USA) Matthew 25:14–30 Since you were faithful in small matters, come, share your master’s joy.

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one— to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’ His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’”

Reflections (3)

(i) Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

When we hear the word ‘talent’, we think in terms of natural abilities that people have. In Jesus’ day, a talent was a very large sum of money. One talent was the equivalent of several year’s wages for someone. The man in the parable is clearly a very wealthy person if he could divide up eight talents between three of his servants, giving five to one servant, two to another and one to the third. He was also a generous person. He didn’t expect to get these large sums of money back. He just wanted his servants to make good use of this extremely generous gift. He knew the abilities of the three servants. He gave the most money, five talents, to the most able, and the least money, one talent, to the least able, and he gave two talents to the servant who stood between the two other servants in terms of ability. He trusted all three servants with great resources and he wanted them to make the most of what they had been given.

The first two servants used what they had been given well. They each doubled the sum of money they had received. However, the third servant did nothing with what he had received. He buried the money in the ground. He was just as capable of doubling what he had been given as the other two servants, turning the one talent into two. However, he was held back by fear of his master, thinking of him as a very demanding person who had no time for failure. He forgot that his master was a generous man who was prepared to trust him with great resources and who only wanted him to make the most of what he had been given.

Jesus may be reminding us in this parable just how generous God has been with all of us. God has given us the greatest treasure he could give us, his own Son, out of love for us. In the words of Saint John’s gospel, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that we may have eternal life. If God gave us his greatest treasure, his only Son, Jesus also gave us his greatest treasure, his own life, out of love for us. Jesus says, ‘No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’. Jesus laid down his life for us on the hill of Calvary. He also rose from the dead for us, and he promised to be with us always as risen Lord until the end of time. If God gave us the treasure of his Son, and Jesus gave us the treasure of his life and of his living presence for all time, together God and his Son then gave us the greatest shared gift they could give us, the Holy Spirit. As Saint Paul reminds us in his letters, God poured the Spirit of his Son, the Holy Spirit, into our hearts, crying ‘Abba, Father’. Through the Holy Spirit, we come to share in Jesus’ own relationship with God, calling God, ‘Father’, as Jesus does. God the Father and Jesus his Son have gifted us in a way that far exceeds how the wealthy man in the parable gifted his servants. Because of all that God and his Son have done for us, each of us is a son or daughter of God, a brother or sister of Jesus and a temple of the Holy Spirit. Each of us is destined to share the life of God, the Father, Son and Spirit, in the kingdom of heaven. As we journey towards this eternal destiny God provides for us in many different ways, giving us the word of God, the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, the company of Mary and the saints, and all those believers throughout the world who journey with us.

How do we respond to God’s generous love, expressed in all these gifts? We certainly don’t respond with fear, like the third servant in the gospel reading. In our ordinary human relationships, we don’t fear those who love us. Even the greatest of human loves is only a pale reflection of the perfect love of God. Saint John says in his first letter, ‘There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts our fear’. God’s perfect love casts out fear. The responsorial psalm declares blessed those who fear the Lord. However, ‘fear of the Lord’ here is not the emotion of fear. It is a sense of reverence in God’s presence, recognizing that God is so much greater than we are, including greater in love. Because God loves us with a perfect love, we can take a risk with what God has given us, the treasure of the gospel, the treasure of the faith. We can work to share the gift of our faith with others, without the fear of failure hanging over us. As Mother Teresa once said, the Lord does not ask us to be successful but only to be faithful. We do our best to entrust to others the spiritual treasure we have been given, knowing that the Lord looks lovingly on our efforts and will work powerfully through them, even when they seem to us to be a failure.

And/Or

(ii) Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

We know from experience that different people have different abilities. A person with an ability to listen to others may not have the ability to be a good administrator. Someone who is well able to mend a leak or fix a washing machine may have little or no musical ability. A good teacher may be a hopeless mechanic. We learn from experience whose good at what, and we relate to people accordingly. We also learn from experience what our own abilities are, and what our limitations are, and we are likely to take on tasks that correspond to our abilities and avoid tasks that do not.

The rich man in today’s parable was well aware of the abilities of his servants. Before he set out on his journey he entrusted his property ‘to each in proportion to his ability’. He knew what each of his three servants was able for, and he only gave as much responsibility to each of them as each could carry. The man who received five talents of money was capable of making five more; the one who received two talents was capable of making two more; the one who received one talent was capable of making one more. The first two servants worked according to their ability. The third servant did not, giving his master back the one talent, instead of the two talents he was capable of acquiring. What held this servant back from working according to his ability was fear. ‘I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground’.

Many of us may find ourselves having some sympathy for the third servant, because, deep down, we are only too well aware how fear can hold us back and prevent us from doing what we are well capable of doing. Fear can be a much more powerful force in the lives of some than others. There can be many reasons for this. Those who have experienced a lot of criticism growing up can be slow to take a risk and may develop a fearful approach to life. We are familiar with the Irish proverb, Mol an oige and tiochfaid siad. Praise the young and they will make progress. The converse can also true. Criticize the young and they will be held back.

Jesus was only too well aware of the power of fear in people’s lives. It is striking the number of times in the gospels he addresses people with the words, ‘Do not be afraid’. When, in response to Jesus’ call, Simon Peter fell down at Jesus’ knees saying, ‘Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man’, Jesus replied to him, ‘Do not be afraid, from now on it is people you will catch’. When fear threatened to hold Peter back, Jesus continued to call him forward into a new way of life. In the storm at sea when the disciples accused Jesus of not caring for them he turned to them and said, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ It is striking that in the gospels, the opposite of faith tends to be fear. Fear held people back from following Jesus fully. We can all experience that same fear in our lives, especially when it comes to responding to the Lord’s call. Yet, the risen Lord is present to us in ways that help to overcome our fear of witnessing to him and sharing in his work. He encourages us, through the Holy Spirit.

The tragedy of the third servant in the parable today is that, out of fear, he hid what had been entrusted to him, even though he had the ability to use it well. St. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, reminds us: ‘To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good’. We have each been graced in some way by the Lord for the service of others. If I hide what the Lord has given me, others are thereby deprived. Most of us need a bit of encouragement to place the gifts the Lord has given us at the disposal of others. Part of our baptismal calling is to give each other courage, to encourage each other. A few verses beyond where today’s second reading ends, Paul calls on the Thessalonians: ‘Encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing’. That ministry of mutual encouragement is as necessary today as it was in Paul’s time, especially when it comes to our following in the way of the Lord. The Lord has entrusted to us the treasure of the gospel. It is not to be hid in the ground out of fear. Rather, we are to share this treasure of the gospel with each other, so that we may all become the person God is calling it to be. As we each try to share that treasure in our own way, we thereby encourage others to do the same.

In this regard, it is worth calling to mind the words of Nelson Mandela: ‘We were born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It‘s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others’.

And/Or

(iii) Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

One of the most popular Popes in the recent history of the church was Pope John XXIII. There was a warmth and humanity about him that spoke to people. When I was in the Seminary I read his published diary, ‘Journal of a soul’. It was a faith filled reflection on all that had been happening in his life from day to day. The book made a huge impression on me at the time. The person who came through the pages was attractive and inspirational. When he was elected Pope not much was expected of him. He was elderly and not in great health; he was seen as a kind of transitional figure until the next papal election. However, things did not quite work out that way. His short pontificate was one of the most significant and inspirational in the history of the church. His long years of service and prayer had been preparing him for this moment. At a time when many people in the church were preoccupied with keeping the deposit of faith secure, Pope John called for a new venture of renewal and dialogue. The beginning of that new venture was the Second Vatican Council. He once said, ‘We are not on earth to guard a museum, but to cultivate a flourishing garden of life’.

Here was a man who was prepared to take a risk with what had been given to him. He was the opposite of the third character in the parable that Jesus tells in today’s gospel reading. That man hid the enormous gift he had been given to keep it safe. The one talent he received was something like the equivalent of twenty years earnings at the time. It had enormous potential; there was so much he could have done with it. Instead, he treated it as if it was a museum to be protected rather than an opportunity to cultivate a flourishing garden of life. The reason he was so cautious, according to himself, was because he perceived his master to be an overly demanding man, and, so, out of fear, he did nothing. In reality, however, his master was an extremely generous man, who entrusted vast amounts of money into the hands of his servants. He was someone who trusted others with gifts of enormous potential. All he asked was that people would show themselves worthy of that trust. He wanted them to trust themselves enough to use what he had given them.

By means of the parable Jesus was saying something to us about God and about ourselves. God takes risks on our regard. He entrusts us with great gifts and resources. He took the risk of entrusting his Son to us. Saint John at the beginning of his gospel speaks of the Word who became flesh, full of grace and truth, and then declares that from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. God has given us his Son from whose fullness we have all received. We have each received a great deal on trust, and that is true of every human being and, in particular, of every member of the church, of everyone who has been baptized into Christ. Because of that, we each have the potential to do great good. Each of us, in different ways, has been given the resources to cultivate a flourishing garden of life. What can block us from using our God-given resources in a life-giving way is the fear that dominated the third character in the parable that Jesus old. ‘I was afraid and I went off and hid your talent in the ground’. Fear can sometimes prevent us from doing the good that we are capable of doing. It can be fear of failure or of what others will think of us or perhaps even an unhealthy fear of God. Yet, today’s gospel reading suggests that God values initiative and independence in us. If God has taken a risk in giving us such wonderful resources he looks to us to take a risk in using what he has given us. He wants us to be courageous in working out of the graces that have been given to us.

The gospel suggests that each of us is gifted in different ways; one person received five talents, another three and another one. In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit allotting to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. What we are given is not important, but how we use what we are given is important. The widow standing by the temple treasury in Jerusalem put in two copper coins, a tiny sum, and, yet, Jesus said that she put in more than all the rest because she put in all she had to live on. There is nothing to be gained by comparing ourselves with others. We are simply called to give generously and courageously out of what we have received. The example of John XXIII suggests that it is never too late in life to start doing that.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

27th November >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 24:37-44 for the First Sunday of Advent, Cycle A: ‘You too must stand ready’.

First Sunday of Advent, Cycle A

Gospel (Except USA)

Matthew 24:37-44

The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it be when the Son of Man comes. For in those days before the Flood people were eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and they suspected nothing till the Flood came and swept all away. It will be like this when the Son of Man comes. Then of two men in the fields one is taken, one left; of two women at the millstone grinding, one is taken, one left.

   ‘So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

Gospel (USA)

Matthew 24:37–44

Stay awake, that you may be prepared!

Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Reflections (6)

(i) First Sunday of Advent

I am sure that some of you will have gone on a pilgrimage at some time in your lives. A pilgrimage is a journey towards some place that is significant for our faith, a place that God seems to have touched in a special way, perhaps through one of the saints or through Mary or through his Son, Jesus. We journey to these places because we sense that our faith will be strengthened there and that God may touch our lives. When we think of pilgrimage, we think of places like Rome, the Holy Land, Assisi, Lourdes or, closer to home, Knock. As a priest, it is always a great privilege to lead a pilgrimage to such places.

In the time of Jesus, the most important place of pilgrimage was Jerusalem. For the Jewish people, Jerusalem was a city that God had touched in a very special way. The Temple of Jerusalem was believed to be where God had chosen to dwell. It was the house of God. Our responsorial psalm this first Sunday of Advent was recited by pilgrims to Jerusalem. We can sense the longing and excitement of the pilgrim in that psalm, ‘I rejoiced when I heard them say, “Let us go to God’s house”, and now our feet our standing within your gates, O Jerusalem’. The pilgrims are invited to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, ‘May peace reign in your walls, in your palaces, peace’. In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah has a vision of all the nations, not just Jews, streaming to Jerusalem, saying to one another, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob’. In Isaiah’s vision, all peoples are going to Jerusalem because they sense that God is present there and they want to hear what God has to say to them, so that they can walk in God’s ways. Having come to Jerusalem and listened to God’s word, they are moved to turn instruments of war, swords and spears, into tools to harvest the land, ploughshares and sickles.

We go on pilgrimage because we sense that we will be better people as a result. Having been touched by God’s presence in this holy place, we will live more fully in the loving, peace-making ways that God desires for us. We will become the people God created us to be. There is a sense in which our whole life is a pilgrimage and that we are always a pilgrim people. We are all on a journey towards God’s heavenly house. Jesus once spoke of heaven as his Father’s house with its many dwelling places. With the pilgrim in the Responsorial Psalm, we can all say, ‘Let us go to God’s house’. We are on pilgrimage towards the heavenly Jerusalem. When we reach that heavenly destination, we will finally become the people that God created us to be. In the words of Saint Paul, we will be fully conformed to the image of God���s Son. We will see God face to face, and become like God, like God’s Son. Being fully exposed to God’s love, we will become as loving as God is loving. In the words of the first reading, we will be walking in the light of the Lord; we will be full of the light of God’s love.

If that is our final destiny, what about the here and now? When we go on pilgrimage to some place, we make a special effort to travel well. On our way to the place where we hope God will touch us in a special way, we begin to open ourselves more fully to God’s presence, allowing God to begin to recreate us in the image of his Son. We support one another on the journey. We are more inclined to put up with hardships for the sake of others. Our destination shapes us for the better as we travel. Likewise, on the pilgrimage that is our earthly life, we try to allow our heavenly destiny to shape us here and now. Because we are journeying towards the fullness of God’s light, we try to walk in the light of the Lord here and now. Because at the end of our earthly pilgrimage we hope to see God face to face, we seek to be awake to God’s presence to us every day. This is the call of Jesus in the gospel reading, ‘Stay awake… stand ready’. It is the call of Saint Paul in today’s second reading, ‘You must wake up now: our salvation is even nearer’. As Christians, we believe that the one towards whom we are journey is present with us on that journey. As we journey towards the Lord, he is journeying towards us. The Lord doesn’t simply wait for our coming to him; he comes to each of us individually and to all of us as a community of faith. Advent is a season when we try to become more awake to the Lord’s daily coming, so that he can transform our lives in the here and now, anticipating our full and final transformation. That is why the great Advent prayer is, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’, a prayer that has come down to us in one of Paul’s letters in the Aramaic language of Jesus, ‘Maranatha’. This ancient and simple prayer is worth making our own this Advent; it will help to keep us awake to the Lord’s daily coming.#

And/Or

(ii) First Sunday of Advent

 The days have been getting steadily shorter now for some time, and the shortest day of the year is still over three weeks away. Yet, today, the beginning of the church’s year, the first Sunday of Advent, a light begins to shine in the darkness, symbolized by the lighting of the first candle of the Advent wreath. The call at the end of today’s first reading expresses the change of mood: ‘Let us walk in the light of the Lord’. Advent brings light to the dark days of winter. The beginning of Advent always coincides with the ending of November, which many people find a difficult month. The remembering that we associate with November gives way to the looking forward that characterizes Advent. Advent is a season of joyful anticipation and expectation. It is a time when we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. It is good to allow some of the joyful anticipation of Advent to rub off on us a little, to allow ourselves to be touched in some way by this waiting in joyful hope.

 We often find it difficult to wait. Waiting does not come easy to us. The commercial world cannot wait for Christmas. The carols of Christmas have been piping through our department stores for some weeks now. It is hard to escape strains of ‘Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow’, and so on. The streets of our city, our shop windows are already full of the tinsel and glitter of Christmas. We are well used now to Christmas being dragged back into November. Waiting is out of the question. There is little to be done about that. Yet, to some extent, we can detach ourselves from it all; we can consciously enter into that spirit of joyful waiting that Advent invites us to.  That spirit is well captured in our response to today’s psalm. I rejoiced when I heard them say ‘Let us go to God’s house’. That was spoken by pilgrims as they were setting on pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem. They anticipated with great joy the prospect of arriving at the beautiful temple. This was the joy of expectation. It is the joy of Advent. We joyfully look forward to celebrating the birth of our Saviour and all that his birth has come to mean for us.

 We all need something to look forward to. The first reading of the first Sunday of Advent invites us to look forward to a better world, to a world where justice and peace are more plentiful than they presently are. God knows, it can be an effort at times to conjure up the prospect of a more just and peaceful world. The daily news from Iraq and elsewhere can be very depressing. Yet we cannot allow ourselves to loose the capacity to imagine something better. Isaiah’s vision of swords being hammered into ploughshares and of sickles being hammered into spears was one of the inspirational texts for the founding of the United Nations after the Second World War. Isaiah’s inspirational vision moved people to action in ways he could not have anticipated. We can never underestimate the power of imagination to shape things for the better. Advent invites us to dream God’s dream for our world; it calls on us to be faithful to that dream, to live out of it, to live in joyful hope that one day that dream will become more of a reality than it presently is.

 Advent stirs in us the desire to reach forward to grasp a better future, the future that God is always holding out to us. A better future for the northern part of our country and for the island of a whole seems tantalizingly close at the moment. Those who were once bitter enemies are being called to find ways of hammering weapons of war into instruments of peace. They are being asked to leave behind old patterns of thinking, behaving and relating and to grasp something new. A new kind of armour is being called for, what Paul calls in the second reading, the armour that is the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray during these days that what began on a Good Friday will be brought to completion in this Advent season.

 These Advent days are not only significant days for our politicians. We are all being called this Advent to look forward and to grasp the future that God is holding out to us, to become all that God is calling us to be. Both Paul in the second reading and Jesus in the gospel reading issue a wake up call. ‘Wake up now’, says Paul. ‘Stay awake’, says Jesus. When we wake up and get out of bed in the morning, we turn our faces towards the day that lies ahead, sometimes with a bit of a struggle. Getting out of bed expresses our willingness to face the day. Advent invites us wake up and to turn our faces towards the day of the Lord. It calls on us to be awake to what the Lord wants, to live each day as the Lord wants it to be lived. It this way the future that the Lord desires will become more of a reality among us.

 Being alert to what the Lord wants will often mean leaving behind ways and patterns that are not part of God’s future. Paul mentions drunken orgies, promiscuity, wrangling and jealousy. We can all make up our own list, probably a much less spectacular one than Paul’s. Advert calls on us to be alert to everything in the present that can have no place in God’s future. Such alertness need not discourage us; it simply fires our resolve to reach out and grasp what the Lord is offering us. The awareness of our own weaknesses disposes us to welcome the Lord whose coming to us as Saviour is assured.

And/Or

(iii) First Sunday of Advent

 The days have been getting steadily shorter now for some time, and the shortest day of the year is still over three weeks away. Yet, today, the beginning of the church’s year, the first Sunday of Advent, a light begins to shine in the darkness, symbolized by the lighting of the first candle of our Advent wreath. Advent brings light to the dark days of winter. It is a hopeful season. The second reading today expresses that hopeful note of Advent: ‘The night is almost over, it will be daylight soon’. The beginning of Advent always coincides with the ending of November, which many people find a difficult month. The remembering that we associate with November gives way to the looking forward that characterizes Advent. The Jesse tree appears in the sanctuary today; that tree also invites us to look forward. There is a forward movement associated with it. Every Sunday at the family Mass on Sunday morning symbols of the story of salvation will be placed on it, beginning with the garden of Eden in Genesis and gradually working forward to the time of Jesus. Advent is a time when we look forward, when we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. It is good to allow ourselves to be touched in some way by this waiting in joyful hope.

 We often find it difficult to wait. Waiting does not come easy to us. The commercial world cannot wait for Christmas. The streets of our city and many of our shop windows are already full of the tinsel and glitter of Christmas. There is little to be done about that. Yet, to some extent, we can detach ourselves from it all and consciously enter into that spirit of joyful waiting that Advent invites us to. That spirit is well captured in our response to today’s psalm. I rejoiced when I heard them say ‘Let us go to God’s house’. That was spoken by pilgrims as they were setting on pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem. They anticipated with great joy the prospect of arriving at the beautiful temple. This was the joy of expectation; it is the joy of Advent. In Advent we joyfully look forward to celebrating the birth of our Saviour and all that his birth has come to mean for us.

 We all need something to look forward to; we need to keep alive within ourselves the capacity to imagine something better. The first reading of the first Sunday of Advent invites us to look forward to a better world, to a world where justice and peace are more plentiful than they presently are. It can be an effort at times to conjure up the prospect of a more just and peaceful world. Yet we cannot allow ourselves to loose the capacity to imagine something better. Isaiah’s imaginative vision of swords being hammered into ploughshares and of sickles being hammered into spears was one of the Scripture texts that inspired the founding of the United Nations after the Second World War. Isaiah’s inspirational vision moved people to action in ways he could not have anticipated. Advent invites us to dream God’s dream for our world; it calls on us to be faithful to that dream, to live out of it, to live in joyful hope that one day that dream will become more of a reality than it presently is.

 We are all being called this Advent to look forward to and to grasp the future that God is holding out to us, to become all that God is calling us to be. Both Paul in the second reading and Jesus in the gospel reading issue a wake up call. ‘Wake up now’, says Paul. ‘Stay awake’, says Jesus. When we wake up and get out of bed in the morning, we turn our faces towards the day that lies ahead, sometimes with a bit of a struggle. Getting out of bed expresses our willingness to face the day. Advent invites us wake up and to turn our faces towards the day of the Lord, towards the kind of day the Lord desires. It calls on us to be awake to what the Lord wants, to live each day as the Lord wants it to be lived. This is what Paul means when in the second reading he calls upon us to ‘arm ourselves and appear in the light’. In living each day as the Lord wants it to be lived, the future that the Lord desires will become more of a reality among us.

 Being alert to what the Lord wants will often mean leaving behind ways and patterns that are not part of God’s future. Paul mentions drunken orgies, promiscuity, wrangling and jealousy. We can all make up our own list, probably a much less spectacular one than Paul’s. Advert calls on us to be alert to anything in the present that can have no place in God’s future. That awareness of our own weaknesses reminds us of our need of the Lord’s coming; it moves us to keep on making the great Advent prayer, ‘Come Lord Jesus’.

And/Or

(iv) First Sunday of Advent

 The days have been getting steadily shorter now for some time; the shortest day of the year is still over three weeks away. Yet, today, the beginning of the church’s year, the first Sunday of Advent, a light begins to shine in the darkness, symbolized by the lighting of the first candle of our Advent wreath. The call at the end of today’s first reading expresses the mood of Advent: ‘Let us walk in the light of the Lord’. Advent brings light to the dark days of winter. The beginning of Advent always coincides with the ending of November, which many people find a dark and difficult month. The remembering that we associate with November gives way to the looking forward that characterizes Advent. In Advent we look forward to celebrating the birth of Christ at Christmas. It is a season when we try to enter into that mood of joyful expectation that must have characterized Mary as she waited for the birth of her son. It is good to allow something of this Advent mood of joyful anticipation to rub off on us a little in these dark days.

 Advent is a season of hope; it invites us to be hopeful, in our own regard and in regard to others. Hope is more than optimism. We need good human reasons to be optimistic, but we can be hopeful even when there is little reason to be optimistic. Hope is a virtue rather than an attitude. It is born of our relationship with God. We hope because we believe that God is always at work in life-giving ways even in the midst of death. We hope because we believe that the light of God’s presence shines in every darkness and that the darkness will not overcome his light. We hope because we believe that, in the words of the angel Gabriel to Mary, ‘nothing will be impossible with God’. Today’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah is not an expression of optimism – rather naïve optimism some would say at that. It is rather a vision of hope. Isaiah imagines a time when all the nations, peoples without number, will stream to Jerusalem to listen to God’s word, and, as a result of receiving that word and living by it, will relate to each other in ways characterized by justice and peace. At the time Isaiah wrote, there was no human reason to think that this would happen in the near future, or that it would ever happen. Yet, Isaiah knew that this was God’s dream for humanity, and that, therefore, it could happen, and, indeed, would happen. Isaiah was convinced that God was working to bring to pass this vision for our world, in spite of human resistance and indifference. That conviction makes Isaiah the prophet of hope that he was. The first reading on each of the four Sundays is taken from the prophet Isaiah. Many of the first readings for the week days of Advent are also taken from Isaiah. His hopeful visions can feed our hope during these weeks of Advent. The season of Advent reminds us that God’s purpose for our lives, for our world, is always expansive and generous and that God is continually at work bringing that vision to pass. What God calls for from us is that we willingly and hopefully give ourselves over to that work so that God can do great things through us.

 Isaiah in that reading presents us with a vision of people on the move. They are on a pilgrimage; they are journeying towards God; they are seeking God’s word, wanting to open themselves to God’s vision that finds expression in God’s word. Advent calls us too to go on a journey, a journey out of our own narrowness towards that expansive and generous dream of God for our lives and our world. It is a season when we are invited to listen more attentively to God’s word, so that God’s word can shape how we live, how we think and speak. In that way we allow God’s dream to enter more fully into our lives and really capture us. Advent is a season that stretches us, that challenges us to think the thoughts of God, to be imaginative and generous in the way we see ourselves and others. This journey into God’s dream for our lives will involve letting go of all that can have no place in that dream of God for us. That is what Paul is getting at in today’s second reading when he calls on us to ‘give up all the things we prefer to do under cover of the dark’, and, instead, to ‘live decently as people do in the daytime’.

 In the gospel reading, the call of Jesus is to ‘stay awake’. If the first reading calls us to journey towards God, the gospel reading calls on us to stay awake to God’s journey towards us, God’s coming towards us,. Everyday God comes to us with his dream for our lives, for our world. Advent calls on us to stand ready for God’s coming, to be awake to the Lord’s presence and to the demands it makes on us in terms of stretching our minds and hearts to take in God’s generous vision for our lives and our world.  

And/Or

(v) First Sunday of Advent

 The days have been getting steadily shorter now for some time and the shortest day of the year is still three weeks away. Yet, today, the beginning of the church’s year, the first Sunday of Advent, a light begins to shine in the darkness, symbolized by the lighting of the first candle of our Advent wreath. The call at the end of today’s first reading expresses the mood of Advent: ‘Let us walk in the light of the Lord’. Advent brings light to the dark days of winter. The beginning of Advent always coincides with the ending of November, which many people find a dark and difficult month. The remembering that we associate with November gives way to the looking forward that characterizes Advent. In Advent we look forward to celebrating the birth of Christ at Christmas. It is a season when we try to enter into that mood of joyful expectation that must have characterized Mary as she waited for the birth of her son. It is good to allow something of this Advent mood of joyful anticipation to rub off on us a little in these dark days of winter.

 Advent is a season of hope; it invites us to be hopeful, in our own regard and in regard to others. Hope is more than optimism. We need good human reasons to be optimistic, but we can be hopeful even when there is little human reason to be optimistic. Hope is a virtue rather than an attitude. It is born of our relationship with God. We hope because we believe that God is always at work in life-giving ways even in the midst of death. We hope because we know that the light of God’s presence shines in every darkness. We hope because we trust that, in the words of the angel Gabriel to Mary, ‘nothing will be impossible with God’. Today’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah is a vision of hope. Isaiah imagines a time when all the nations, peoples without number, will stream to Jerusalem to listen to God’s word. As a result of receiving that word and living by it, they will relate to each other in ways characterized by justice and peace, rather than violence and conflict. At the time Isaiah wrote, there was no human reason to think that this would happen in the near future, or that it would ever happen. Yet, Isaiah knew that this was God’s dream for humanity, and that, therefore, it could happen, and, indeed, would happen. Isaiah was convinced that God was always working to bring to pass this vision for our world, in spite of human resistance and indifference. That conviction makes Isaiah the prophet of hope that he was. His hopeful visions can feed our hope during these weeks of Advent. Isaiah’s imaginative vision in that reading of swords being hammered into ploughshares and of sickles being hammered into spears was one of the Scripture texts that inspired the founding of the United Nations after the Second World War. The season of Advent reminds us that God’s purpose for our lives, for our world, is always expansive and generous and that God is continually at work bringing that vision to pass. What the Lord asks of us is that we give ourselves over to his ongoing work so that he can do great things through us.

 Isaiah in that reading presents us with a vision of people on the move. They are on a pilgrimage; they are journeying towards God; they are seeking God’s word, wanting to open themselves to God’s vision that finds expression in God’s word. Advent calls us too to go on a journey, a journey out of darkness towards the lights, towards that expansive and generous dream of God for our personal lives and for our world. It is a season when we are invited to listen more attentively to God’s word, so that God’s word can enlighten us and shape how we live, how we think and speak. In that way we allow God’s dream to enter more fully into our lives and become more of a reality through us. Advent is a season that stretches us, that challenges us to think the thoughts of God, to be imaginative and generous in the way we see ourselves and others. This journey into God’s dream for our lives will involve letting go of all that can have no place in that dream of God for us. That is what Paul is getting at in today’s second reading when he calls on us to ‘give up all the things we prefer to do under cover of the dark’, and, instead, to ‘live decently as people do in the daytime’.

 In the gospel reading, the call of Jesus is to ‘stay awake’ and ‘stand ready’. If the first reading calls us to journey towards the Lord, the gospel reading calls on us to stay awake to the Lord’s daily journeying towards us. Every day, we walk in the light of the Lord. Every day, the Lord comes towards us with his dream for our lives and for our world. Advent calls on us to stand ready for Lord’s daily coming, to be awake to the light of the Lord’s daily presence, and to respond to his call to live out of his generous vision for our lives and our world.  

And/Or

(vi) First Sunday of Advent

 The season of Advent comes to us at the darkest time of the year. The days have been getting steadily shorter since late last June. We will have noticed the shorter days especially in this month of November which has just ended. The days will continue to get shorter for the first three weeks of December. The gradual increase of darkness and loss of daylight coincides with the withering of nature. The trees that were in full bloom some months ago are now looking increasingly bare. The growing darkness and the withering of nature can sometimes have a withering affect on our spirit.

 Yet, today is the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the church’s year.  It is a season when we focus on the emergence of new life, on the triumph of light over darkness. We begin to light candles in the darkness; as nature withers we weave an evergreen wreath around the base of the candles. As darkness continues to claim our daylight, we light the first candle on our Advent wreath. The lighting of the Advent wreath is not like the lighting of the Paschal Candle. The lighting of that Candle happens suddenly and dramatically, and is accompanied by great shouts of jubilation, ‘Christ is risen’. We move suddenly from darkness into light and joy. The lighting of the Advent wreath is a more subdued affair. It is a very gradual lighting; it is only on Christmas morning, that all five candles on the Advent wreath are lit. We begin by lighting one candle and then after a full week we light a second and after another week we light a third, and so on. The lighting of the Advent wreath does not have any of the drama of the lighting of the Paschal candle. Yet, the slow illumination of the Advent wreath suggests that in these dark days we are journeying towards the light, or rather, the light is journeying towards us. Advent is a season when we allow ourselves to become more aware that Jesus, the light of God, the light of the world, is always approaching us. It is a season when we are invited to look up from whatever darkness may be over us and to focus on the coming of the Lord as our light and our life. Advent is a time when we hear afresh the invitation of Isaiah the prophet at the end of this morning’s first reading, ‘Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord’. As Paul announces in today’s second reading, ‘the night is almost over, it will be daylight soon’.

 Advent is the liturgical season that is most in danger of going by unnoticed. It is a very short season and during the weeks of Advent we tend to be very busy. In the world in which we live the season of Christmas seems to start earlier every year, and Advent is always at risk of being swallowed up by Christmas. Yet, Advent is a season worth fighting for, and the mood of Advent is worth entering into. It is a mood of waiting in joyful hope for the coming of the light, the light of the world, the one who said of himself, ‘whoever follows me will never walk in darkness’. That mood of waiting in joyful hope permeates today’s readings. It is there especially in the first reading and in the psalm. In the first reading, pilgrims on their way to the city of Jerusalem say excitedly to each other, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways’. In the responsorial psalm a pilgrim on his way to Jerusalem proclaims, ‘I rejoiced when I heard them say, “Let us go to God’s house”’. This is the joy of the pilgrim, the joy of anticipation; it is the joy of those who known that, even though the journey can be dark and difficult, it is going somewhere worthwhile. The darkness will give way to light. Indeed, more than that – in the words of John’s gospel, the light already shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it. The lighting of the first of our Advent candles in this dark time of the year reminds us of that hope-filled truth.

 Today’s second reading and gospel reading builds on that hopeful message. Because the Lord’s light is coming towards us and is, to some extent, already here, we are children of the day rather than children of the night, people of light rather than of darkness. As people of the day, we need to ‘wake up now’, in the words of Paul in the second reading, to ‘stay awake’ in the words of Jesus in the gospel reading. We need to be alert to the presence of the light; we need to stay awake to the coming of the Son of Man, a coming which is both future and present, which is at the end of time, at the end of our personal lives and in the here and now of our daily lives. The second reading and gospel reading call for a spiritual and moral alertness that is appropriate to a pilgrim people who walk towards the light of God and already walk in that light.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

11th November >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Luke 17:26-37 for Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time: ‘Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it’.

Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)

Luke 17:26-37

When the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed.

Jesus said to the disciples:

   ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It will be the same as it was in Lot’s day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed.

   ‘When that day comes, anyone on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must not come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back either. Remember Lot’s wife. Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe. I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed: one will be taken, the other left; two women will be grinding corn together: one will be taken, the other left.’ The disciples interrupted. ‘Where, Lord?’ they asked. He said, ‘Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.’

Gospel (USA)

Luke 17:26-37

So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

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.”

Reflections (8)

(i) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading Jesus refers to the ordinary business of human living, namely, eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, marrying and raising a family. We are all engaged in some or all of these activities. Along with other activities, they are all essential to human living. Yet, Jesus is saying that there is something even more important, and that is our openness to receive the coming of the Son of Man, our welcoming of his presence to us. He is inviting us to look beyond all the many worthwhile activities we are engaged in and to notice his presence at the heart of it all. We are to pay attention to the Lord present in the midst of life. We could refer to this as a contemplative attitude towards living. We remain engaged in all the activities that make up our usual day but we recognize that there is a more at the core of it all, and that more is the Lord seeking us out, calling out to us. What is his call to us at the heart of all that we do? We find the answer to that question in today’s first reading, where Saint John refers to the fundamental commandment, ‘let us love one another’. To say that the Lord is at the heart of all our living is to say that Love is at the heart of all our living, the Lord’s loving presence to us and his call to us to reflect his love for us in the way we relate to one another, to love one another as he loves us. Whenever, in the midst of all our activities, we are seeking to open ourselves more fully to the Lord ‘s loving presence to us and to pass on that love to those we meet, then we are contemplatives in action. All our activities will be shaped by the Lord’s presence.

And/Or

(ii) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Each of us in our own way is involved in the daily business of life. The ordinary day to day matters engage us. Most of our time is taken up with just living in that very ordinary sense of the word. Jesus refers to this rhythm of daily living in this morning’s gospel reading. He speaks of eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, buying and selling, planting and building. This is the stuff of life. Without it life could not go on. It is no surprise that it takes up so much of our time and energy. Yet, in the gospel reading, Jesus warns against becoming so absorbed by the ordinary routine of life that we never look beyond it or look at a deeper level. In that context of ordinary human activity Jesus speaks of the day of the coming of the Son of Man. That will be a day that puts everything we do, the ordinary business of life, into a totally different perspective, an eternal perspective in a sense. We need something of that eternal perspective before the arrival of that day of the Son of Man. The glorious Son of Man, the risen Lord, is already among us. There is a sense in which he is arriving in the course of our day. The gospel reading warns against becoming so immersed in our day to day affairs that we fail to take notice of him or pay attention to him. We need to be fully immersed in our world with its various comings and goings while at the same time not being so absorbed by that world that we forget about that someone greater who stands among us calling out to us, inviting us into a personal relationship with him. It is out of that relationship that we then engage with the nitty-gritty of life.

 And/Or

(iii) Friday, Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s gospel reading speaks about the activities of eating and drinking, taking wives and husbands, buying and selling, planting and building. These will always be some of the main activities of any human life. We could add to that list. Jesus reminds his listeners that in the time of Noah people were all engaged in these activities when, suddenly, disaster struck, the flood came and all these vitally important human activities seemed less important. On this basis Jesus warns his contemporaries not to become so absorbed by these very human and necessary activities that when he, the Son of Man, comes at the end of time, they will be unprepared for his coming and caught off guard. Jesus is reminding us that we need to keep a proper sense of perspective. The activities of life can be so absorbing and so wonderful in many ways that they can become an end in themselves. There is a deeper dimension to these activities which we can miss. The Lord who comes at the end of time is present to us in and through all of our daily activities. The Lord is present in all things. We need that contemplative approach to life which allows us to recognize the Lord present to us in all our activities. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We encounter the Lord in and through the flesh of life. If we are open to his presence at the heart of life, then his coming to us at the end of time or at the end of our own earthly time will not take us by surprise.

 And/Or

(iv) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The gospel reading this morning warns against being so absorbed in the ordinary things of life that we neglect what is of ultimate importance. The reading speaks of eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, marrying wives and husbands. These activities and many others are the stuff of life. They are very important. Life could not go on without them. They are so important that we may to see them as of ultimate importance; this is all there is. Yet, above and beyond all of that necessary activity there is a deeper reality, what the reading refers to as the day for the Son of Man to be revealed. The Son of Man is revealed at the end of time and at the end of our own personal lives. The Son of Man is also revealed in the here and now; the Lord calls out to us in and through the ordinary activities in which we are always engaged. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. All of life is an invitation to contemplate the Lord who is at the heart of life. He calls out to us, as we go about our daily lives, to seek him with all our being just as he seeks us with all his being.

 And/Or

(v) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The gospel describes a situation in which the normal business of life is suddenly cut short by some unexpected event. The eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, marrying wives and husbands, that went on in the days of Noah and the days of Lot were suddenly brought to a stop by catastrophic events, the great flood and the destruction of a city. In our own lives we can have a similar experience. We are caught up in the ordinary day to day business of living, and suddenly something happens that renders all of that of secondary importance. What is it that keeps us going when those familiar routines no longer sustain us? For us as Christians, it can only be our faith in the Lord. We know that when all else changes, when everything else collapses around us, the Lord endures. In the words of yesterday’s gospel reading, ‘the kingdom of God is among you’. God’s reign, God’s power, is among us, in and through his Son. When all else fails, we can rely on that. Like Saint  Paul, we can discover that God’s power is made perfect in weakness. In our times of greatest weakness we can experience the Lord’s power most fully.

 And/Or

(vi) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time 

The first reading from second letter of Saint John expresses our baptismal calling in a very succinct way, ‘to live a life of love’. The author assures us that all the Lord’s commandments can be reduced to this one commandment to love. It is above all Jesus who shows us what it means to love, by his life, death and resurrection. He also gives us the power to love as he loved and continues to love by pouring the Holy Spirit into our hearts. To love in this sense is to give of ourselves in the service of the Lord and his people. In the words of today’s gospel reading, it is to be prepared to lose our lives for others, rather than putting our efforts into preserving our lives at all costs. That gospel reading also speaks about the coming of the Son of Man and the suddenness of that coming. The reference is primarily to the coming of the Son of Man at the end of time, but we can apply what is said to Jesus’ coming at the end of our own earthly lives. If we live a life of love each day of our lives, then we will be found ready and waiting whenever the Son of Man comes to us. At the end of our lives and at the end of time, it is the quality of our love that will matter most in the Lord’s eyes. Have we shown to others something of the love that God has shown to us by the sending of his Son, something of the love that Jesus has displayed in his life, death and resurrection.

 And/Or

(vii) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The activities mentioned in the gospel reading of eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, buying and selling, planting and building are the stuff of everyday life. Yet, Jesus suggests in that reading that all those activities can suddenly come to a stop, as at the time of Noah and the flood, and the time of Lot and the destruction of Sodom. Jesus is not suggesting that all these activities are not important, but he is implying that they are not of ultimate importance, because they will all pass away and, sometimes, quite suddenly. What then is of ultimate importance? Both of today’s readings suggest that it is not so much the activities themselves that are of ultimate importance but the fundamental attitude of heart that lies behind them. Saint John in the first reading names this attitude of heart as love. ‘To live a life of love’, he says, is to live according to God’s commandments, and this is what ultimately matters. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares that anyone who loses his life will keep it. By ‘losing one’s life’ Jesus means giving one’s life in love to others, and to God present to us in others. This is what gives meaning to all our activities, and it is this quality of heart which will endure when all else passes away. As Saint Paul says, ‘Love never ends’. Love never ends because it is of God, it is a reflection of God’s life, and God never ends.

 And/Or

(viii) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading Jesus mentions the kind of human activity that was the stuff of life at the time and remains so today, ‘eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, buying and selling, planting and building’. We could easily add a whole host of other activities that are of the essence of living, reading and writing, travelling and shopping, and so on. All of these activities are good in themselves. However, in the gospel reading, Jesus is warning about becoming so absorbed by these activities that we lose sight of the daily coming of the Son of Man, God’s daily visitation. We are not being asked to step away from all those activities but to remain present to God in the midst of them. We are being invited to be alert to the deeper dimension of our experiences and activities, to the Lord who calls out to us in all that we do and engage in. The first reading from the Book of Wisdom makes a similar point. The author recognizes the grandeur and beauty of God’s creation, God’s creatures. Yet, the author is also aware that if we become too absorbed by the grandeur and beauty of God’s good creation, we will fail to attend to the Author of all this grandeur and beauty, the Creator. We are to see beyond God’s good creation to the Creator God and to his Word, Jesus, through whom he created all things. Both readings call on us to be attentive to the divine depth to everything. We could call this a contemplative approach to the whole of life. It is one we can spend our whole lives growing into.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

12th November >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Luke 17:26-37 for Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time:  ‘It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed’.

Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)

Luke 17:26-37

When the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed.

Jesus said to the disciples:

   ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It will be the same as it was in Lot’s day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed.

   ‘When that day comes, anyone on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must not come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back either. Remember Lot’s wife. Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe. I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed: one will be taken, the other left; two women will be grinding corn together: one will be taken, the other left.’ The disciples interrupted. ‘Where, Lord?’ they asked. He said, ‘Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.’

Gospel (USA)

Luke 17:26-37

So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

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.”

Reflections (9)

(i) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading Jesus mentions the kind of human activity that was the stuff of life at the time and remains so today, ‘eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, buying and selling, planting and building’. We could easily add a whole host of other activities that are of the essence of living, reading and writing, travelling and shopping, and so on. All of these activities are good in themselves. However, in the gospel reading, Jesus is warning about becoming so absorbed by these activities that we lose sight of the daily coming of the Son of Man, God’s daily visitation. We are not being asked to step away from all those activities but to remain present to God in the midst of them. We are being invited to be alert to the deeper dimension of our experiences and activities, to the Lord who calls out to us in all that we do and engage in. The first reading from the Book of Wisdom makes a similar point. The author recognizes the grandeur and beauty of God’s creation, God’s creatures. Yet, the author is also aware that if we become too absorbed by the grandeur and beauty of God’s good creation, we will fail to attend to the Author of all this grandeur and beauty, the Creator. We are to see beyond God’s good creation to the Creator God and to his Word, Jesus, through whom he created all things. Both readings call on us to be attentive to the divine depth to everything. We could call this a contemplative approach to the whole of life. It is one we can spend our whole lives growing into.

And/Or

(ii) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Each of us in our own way is involved in the daily business of life. The ordinary day to day matters engage us. Most of our time is taken up with just living in that very ordinary sense of the word. Jesus refers to this rhythm of daily living in this morning’s gospel reading. He speaks of eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, buying and selling, planting and building. This is the stuff of life. Without it life could not go on. It is no surprise that it takes up so much of our time and energy. Yet, in the gospel reading, Jesus warns against becoming so absorbed by the ordinary routine of life that we never look beyond it or look at a deeper level. In that context of ordinary human activity Jesus speaks of the day of the coming of the Son of Man. That will be a day that puts everything we do, the ordinary business of life, into a totally different perspective, an eternal perspective in a sense. We need something of that eternal perspective before the arrival of that day of the Son of Man. The glorious Son of Man, the risen Lord, is already among us. There is a sense in which he is arriving in the course of our day. The gospel reading warns against becoming so immersed in our day to day affairs that we fail to take notice of him or pay attention to him. We need to be fully immersed in our world with its various comings and goings while at the same time not being so absorbed by that world that we forget about that someone greater who stands among us calling out to us, inviting us into a personal relationship with him. It is out of that relationship that we then engage with the nitty-gritty of life.

 And/Or

(iii) Friday, Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s gospel reading speaks about the activities of eating and drinking, taking wives and husbands, buying and selling, planting and building. These will always be some of the main activities of any human life. We could add to that list. Jesus reminds his listeners that in the time of Noah people were all engaged in these activities when, suddenly, disaster struck, the flood came and all these vitally important human activities seemed less important. On this basis Jesus warns his contemporaries not to become so absorbed by these very human and necessary activities that when he, the Son of Man, comes at the end of time, they will be unprepared for his coming and caught off guard. Jesus is reminding us that we need to keep a proper sense of perspective. The activities of life can be so absorbing and so wonderful in many ways that they can become an end in themselves. There is a deeper dimension to these activities which we can miss. The Lord who comes at the end of time is present to us in and through all of our daily activities. The Lord is present in all things. We need that contemplative approach to life which allows us to recognize the Lord present to us in all our activities. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We encounter the Lord in and through the flesh of life. If we are open to his presence at the heart of life, then his coming to us at the end of time or at the end of our own earthly time will not take us by surprise.

 And/Or

(iv) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The gospel reading this morning warns against being so absorbed in the ordinary things of life that we neglect what is of ultimate importance. The reading speaks of eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, marrying wives and husbands. These activities and many others are the stuff of life. They are very important. Life could not go on without them. They are so important that we may to see them as of ultimate importance; this is all there is. Yet, above and beyond all of that necessary activity there is a deeper reality, what the reading refers to as the day for the Son of Man to be revealed. The Son of Man is revealed at the end of time and at the end of our own personal lives. The Son of Man is also revealed in the here and now; the Lord calls out to us in and through the ordinary activities in which we are always engaged. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. All of life is an invitation to contemplate the Lord who is at the heart of life. He calls out to us, as we go about our daily lives, to seek him with all our being just as he seeks us with all his being.

 And/Or

(v) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The gospel describes a situation in which the normal business of life is suddenly cut short by some unexpected event. The eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, marrying wives and husbands, that went on in the days of Noah and the days of Lot were suddenly brought to a stop by catastrophic events, the great flood and the destruction of a city. In our own lives we can have a similar experience. We are caught up in the ordinary day to day business of living, and suddenly something happens that renders all of that of secondary importance. What is it that keeps us going when those familiar routines no longer sustain us? For us as Christians, it can only be our faith in the Lord. We know that when all else changes, when everything else collapses around us, the Lord endures. In the words of yesterday’s gospel reading, ‘the kingdom of God is among you’. God’s reign, God’s power, is among us, in and through his Son. When all else fails, we can rely on that. Like Saint  Paul, we can discover that God’s power is made perfect in weakness. In our times of greatest weakness we can experience the Lord’s power most fully.

 And/Or

(vi) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time 

The first reading this morning speaks of those who take things for gods. They give to God’s creatures an allegiance that is due to God alone. This is the most obvious case of giving more importance to something than it merits. We can all be prone to that in different ways. We can get things out of proportion. One of the tasks of life is to keep things in proportion. For us as Christians keeping things in proportion will always mean keeping the Lord to the fore and not allowing other things to come between us and him. The ‘eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building’ that the gospel talks about are all important, but they are not of ultimate importance. Only God and his Son are of ultimate importance and we are called to live in a way that acknowledges their sovereignty. As Jesus says at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well’.

 And/Or

 (vii) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s first reading speaks about ‘the good things that are seen’. It celebrates ‘the grandeur and beauty’ of our world. However, the author criticizes those who fail to recognize the One who stands behind all this goodness, grandeur and beauty, the Creator or Author. The world points beyond itself to the God who made it. Yet, the author recognizes that it is easy to become absorbed in God’s world and never acknowledge God. In the gospel reading, Jesus speaks about the ordinary and good human activities of eating and drinking, marrying, buying and selling, planting and building. Yet, he too acknowledges that these good, wholesome human activities can so hold our attention that we never look beyond them to what he calls ‘the days of the Son of Man’. We already live in those days. The Son of Man, the risen Lord, stands among us. He calls out to us every day. God calls out to us through his risen Son. We can fail to notice the presence of the Lord at the heart of all our day to day activities. We can fail to hear God’s call amid the attractiveness and the business of God’s world. The readings today encourage us to be alert to the Lord’s presence in both the natural world and our own personal world. There is a sense in which the ground on which we stand, wherever it is, is always holy ground.

 And/Or

(viii) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The activities mentioned in the gospel reading of eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, buying and selling, planting and building are the stuff of everyday life. Yet, Jesus suggests in that reading that all those activities can suddenly come to a stop, as at the time of Noah and the flood, and the time of Lot and the destruction of Sodom. Jesus is not suggesting that all these activities are not important, but he is implying that they are not of ultimate importance, because they will all pass away and, sometimes, quite suddenly. What then is of ultimate importance? Both of today’s readings suggest that it is not so much the activities themselves that are of ultimate importance but the fundamental attitude of heart that lies behind them. Saint John in the first reading names this attitude of heart as love. ‘To live a life of love’, he says, is to live according to God’s commandments, and this is what ultimately matters. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares that anyone who loses his life will keep it. By ‘losing one’s life’ Jesus means giving one’s life in love to others, and to God present to us in others. This is what gives meaning to all our activities, and it is this quality of heart which will endure when all else passes away. As Saint Paul says, ‘Love never ends’. Love never ends because it is of God, it is a reflection of God’s life, and God never ends.

And/Or

 (ix) Friday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading Jesus refers to the ordinary business of human living, namely, eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, marrying and raising a family. We are all engaged in some or all of these activities. Along with other activities, they are all essential to human living. Yet, Jesus is saying that there is something even more important, and that is our openness to receive the coming of the Son of Man, our welcoming of his presence to us. He is inviting us to look beyond all the many worthwhile activities we are engaged in and to notice his presence at the heart of it all. We are to pay attention to the Lord present in the midst of life. We could refer to this as a contemplative attitude towards living. We remain engaged in all the activities that make up our usual day but we recognize that there is a more at the core of it all, and that more is the Lord seeking us out, calling out to us. What is his call to us at the heart of all that we do? We find the answer to that question in today’s first reading, where Saint John refers to the fundamental commandment, ‘let us love one another’. To say that the Lord is at the heart of all our living is to say that Love is at the heart of all our living, the Lord’s loving presence to us and his call to us to reflect his love for us in the way we relate to one another, to love one another as he loves us. Whenever, in the midst of all our activities, we are seeking to open ourselves more fully to the Lord ‘s loving presence to us and to pass on that love to those we meet, then we are contemplatives in action. All our activities will be shaped by the Lord’s presence.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

11th November >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Luke 17:26-37 for Thursday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time: ‘The kingdom of God is among you’.

Thursday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

 Gospel (Except USA)

Luke 17:26-37

When the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed.

Jesus said to the disciples:

   ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It will be the same as it was in Lot’s day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed.

   ‘When that day comes, anyone on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must not come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back either. Remember Lot’s wife. Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe. I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed: one will be taken, the other left; two women will be grinding corn together: one will be taken, the other left.’ The disciples interrupted. ‘Where, Lord?’ they asked. He said, ‘Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.’

Gospel (USA)

Luke 17:26-37

So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

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.”

Reflections (7)

(i) Thursday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The teaching Jesus gives in the gospels is often in response to the questions that people ask, as is shown by today’s gospel reading. The Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God was to come. They want to know when God will come in power to claim his people and, indeed, the earth, as his own. The reply of Jesus might have given his questioners food for thought, ‘the kingdom of God is among you’. Jesus is saying to them, ‘Don’t just look to the future, look to the present’. We can all be tempted either to live in the past or to live in the future. Jesus calls on us to pay attention to the present, and, especially, to the signs of God’s’ powerful activity in the present. God was powerfully working through Jesus, if only the Pharisees had eyes to see. God’s will was being done, God’s kingdom was coming, in and through all that Jesus was saying and doing. The same Jesus, now risen Lord, is working among us today, through his Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Whenever the Holy Spirit moves people to share in Jesus’ work in some way, there the kingdom of God is among us. The first reading says that Wisdom ‘passes into holy souls, and makes them friends of God’. We can substitute ‘the Lord’ or ‘the Spirit’ for ‘Wisdom’. The Spirit of the Lord is always at work within us and among us moving us to make the Lord’s work a reality in our own time and place. That is true even of the times in which we live that can be so discouraging to people of faith. Jesus’ words remain true, ‘the kingdom of God is among you’. We need the eyes to see the ways God’s kingdom is among us and, also, the openness to the Lord’s Spirit prompting us to make the presence of God’s kingdom even more of a reality among us.

And/Or

(ii) Thursday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Sometimes we can miss something of great significance. It is there before us but we do not see it. In this morning’s gospel reading the Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God was to come. In reply Jesus says to them, ‘You must know, the kingdom of God is among you’. They failed to see that the kingdom of God was present to them in and through the person of Jesus. They were not alert to the signs of God’s kingdom in the ministry of Jesus. The kingdom of God was there but in a less dramatic form than they expected it. The gospel reading reminds us that the Lord is present in our lives in more ways than we realize. His presence does not always admit of observation in the words of today’s gospel reading. It will often be un-dramatic, without fanfare. Yet the Lord is really present especially in the words and deeds of people that build up and heal and bring life. The Lord has assured us that we will never be without his presence. What we need are eyes to see and ears to hear, the eyes and ears of faith. Like the disciples earlier in Luke’s gospel we need to pray, ‘Increase our faith’.

 And/Or

(iii) Thursday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

I like that poem by Joseph Mary Plunkett which begins, ‘I see his blood upon the rose and in the stars the glory of his eyes’. All of nature spoke to him of Jesus. He recognized the Lord in the wonder and diversity of God’s creation. He had a keen eye, a spiritual eye. The Pharisees in the gospel reading this morning lacked that keen eye. They asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was to come, yet they were blind to the signs of God’s kingdom already present to them. As Jesus says to them, ‘You must know, the kingdom of God is among you’. Jesus was referring to all that was happening in his ministry, all that he was saying and doing. The God of life was powerfully at work in the ministry of Jesus and yet many people could not see that; instead they felt threatened by him. The God of life continues to work powerfully among us in and through the risen Lord, in and through the Holy Spirit. What Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit is there to be observed in people’s lives, the first fruit of the final harvest of the kingdom of God. We need eyes to see the signs of the kingdom in our midst. We come before the Lord in our blindness, asking him to help us to see.

And/Or

 (iv) Thursday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The question that the Pharisees put to Jesus shows a preoccupation with the future coming of the kingdom of God. ‘When will the kingdom of God come?’ In response, Jesus directs their focus from the future to the present. The kingdom of God, the days of the Son of Man, may not have come in all its fullness and the timing of that future coming can never be calculated. Yet, the kingdom of God is to some extent already present, in and through the ministry of Jesus, ‘You must know’, Jesus says, ‘the kingdom of God is among you’. Jesus would say the same to us today. The present is not all God would want it to be. That is why Jesus teaches us to pray in the prayer he gave us, ‘thy kingdom of God’. Yet, the seeds of God’s kingdom are already present among us. The rule of God is already working itself out in the lives of those who are seeking to live by the values of Jesus, who strive to walk in his way and to live by his truth. Those seeds are present in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. We need eyes to see the many signs of how God is working among us through his Son and the Spirit. Recognizing those seeds will give us confidence that the final harvest will come. In the words or Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we can be confident that God who has begun this good work among us will bring it to completion.

 And/Or

(v) Thursday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Many people ask questions of Jesus in the course of the gospels. Jesus does not always answer the question in the way that people might expect. In this morning’s gospel reading, the Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God was to come. They heard him proclaim, ‘the kingdom of God is at hand’, and they wanted him to set a date for its coming. It was a ‘when’ question, but Jesus did not give a ‘when’ answer. Yes, there will be a time in the future when the kingdom of God will come in all its fullness, when the Son of Man will come in great power and glory. However, Jesus does not go down the road of calculating the timing of this future event. Rather, he draws attention to the here and now. The kingdom of God in all its fullness may be a future reality, but there is a sense in which it is already a present reality. As Jesus says to his questioners, ‘the kingdom of God is among you’. The kingdom of God is in your midst, if only you had eyes to see it. It is present in what Jesus is saying and doing. The kingdom of God is present among us today, because Jesus, now in his risen form, continues to move among us, in word and in deed. The kingdom of God may be hidden, like the mustard seed in the soil or the leaven in the flour, but it is here among us in all its transforming power. When we feel low in ourselves or we feel discouraged about the state of the church, we need to repeat to ourselves those words of Jesus in today’s gospel reading, ‘the kingdom of God is among you’.

 And/Or

(vi) Thursday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading, the Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God was to come, and Jesus replies that it is already here, ‘you must know, the kingdom of God is among you’. The kingdom of God was already present in and through the ministry of Jesus, in his preaching and teaching, is his healing of the sick, in his seeking the lost, in his including the excluded. Jesus goes on to acknowledge that the kingdom of God has not yet fully arrived. That will only happen when, as he says, the day of the Son of Man comes, when the Lord comes again in glory at the end of time. However, in many respects this future is already present, even if not fully present; the coming rule of God is already at work in the here and now through Jesus, our risen Lord. Jesus could teach us to pray, ‘Father, thy kingdom come’, while also declaring, ‘the kingdom of God is at hand’. We all might be tempted to ask the question the Pharisees ask in the gospel reading, ‘When will the kingdom of God come?’ We are very aware that the world in which we live, with its various earthly kingdoms, is a long way from being the kingdom of God; we easily recognize that God’s will is not being done on earth as it is in heaven. Yet, Jesus’ response to the Pharisees’ question invites us to be attentive to the signs of God’s kingdom that are already among us. Wherever God’s love that filled the life of Jesus finds some expression in any human life, there the kingdom of God is present. It is above all when we are tempted to become discouraged at the state of our world that we need to become more attuned to those signs of God’s kingdom that are all around us.

 And/Or

 (vii) Thursday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

In the time of Jesus, people thought of the kingdom of God as a future reality, as something that would come to earth at the end of time. The Pharisees in today’s gospel reading ask Jesus when exactly this will happen. They had heard him say, ‘the kingdom of God is at hand’. They wanted Jesus to be clearer about the timing of its arrival to earth. In reply, Jesus makes the striking statement, ‘you must know, the kingdom of God is among you’. Jesus was saying to them that the kingdom of God had already arrived in and through his ministry. It hadn’t arrived fully. As Jesus goes on to say to his disciples in the gospel reading, the day of the Son of Man has yet to come. It is only then that the kingdom of God will come fully. However, the kingdom of God is already present in all that Jesus was saying and doing. It would further break into our world through his death, resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit. The risen Lord would say to us today what he said to the Pharisees, ‘the kingdom of God is among you’. It is among us when God’s will is being done as it is in heaven, when believers’ lives are shaped by the Holy Spirit, when people relate to God and to one another in the same loving way as Jesus did, when people live the values of the beatitudes and put the Sermon on the Mount into practice, even at great cost to themselves. In the first reading, Paul called on Philemon to create an opening for the coming of the kingdom of God by welcoming back his runaway slave no longer as a slave but as a brother in Christ. The kingdom of God is among us. Each one of us in our day to day lives can make visible the presence of the kingdom of God by living the gospel message in the power of the Spirit. Then we will put new heart into one another, in the words of today’s first reading.

The Very Reverend Canon Martin Hogan.