Today is the twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel reading is about being prepared. We hear about those who were indifferent to the arrival of the Messiah and either didn’t believe at all or were indifferent to the requirements posed by Christianity.
Today the same situation still holds true. We have those who hear the Christian proposition and just don’t believe it and those who believe, at least to an extent, but don’t clothe themselves in the love of God and neighbor required of us.
One way to think about this last group is to think of those who say they believe but don’t attend Mass or live the sacramental life of the Church. It could also be there are those who do attend Mass but don’t open themselves to the change required to advance in holiness. Yes, God loves us and is a merciful God but we also believe He loves us enough to not leave us as we are. We all are in need of transformation and we need to be properly disposed to receive it. Disposition is not just faith, it is that, but as they say on TV, there’s more. The more is knowing we need to change and wanting to be changed. God is always a gentleman and will respect our decisions because He gave us free will. Of course He wants what’s best for us but it’s up to us to cooperate with Him.
In seven weeks we’ll turn the page to Advent and we’ll start thinking about the Second Coming of Christ. It’s a good practice to be introspective about our lives and how we need to change as we get closer to that date.
What kind of wedding (baptismal) garment do we wear? One of love for our brothers and sisters or love of something else? Maybe our garment has gotten old and tattered and no longer has us prepared for the future due to indifference to the requirements of our baptism.
In just six weeks we’ll hear from the Judging of the Nations in Mt 25 on the last Sunday in Ordinary Time, when we celebrate Christ the King of the Universe. We should make sure our baptismal garments are in good shape before then.
If you’re wondering, we survived the hurricane (Isaias) relatively unscathed. We had peak winds of 54 MPH just after midnight and got about 3 inches of rain. We live about 200 miles from where it came ashore so it had plenty of time to settle down before getting to our area.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace, Bob
