A Wake-up Call: “Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!”

November 29: Saturday of Week 34 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Revelation 22:1-7; Psalm 95:1-2, 3-5, 6-7; Luke 21:34-36

Click here for the complete text of today’s readings.

Thoughts to help us take responsibility as stewards of the kingship of Christ.

(To support  Reaching Jesus: 5 Steps to a Fuller Life ... Step Five )

A Wake-up Call

“Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!” (Responsorial: see 1Corinthians 16:22; Revelation 22:20).

This is the last day of the liturgical year. Predictably, it announces a beginning: “Behold, I am coming soon!”—the theme of Advent.

After showing John “what must happen soon,” the angel declares, “Blessed is the one who keeps the prophetic message of this book.”

Prophecies are entrusted to messengers for the good of others. Every Christian is a “steward” of the Good News. “Blessed are we” if we “keep” and share it.

The message is the promise of “the river of life-giving water, the tree of life, medicine for the nations.” All we need and long for is ours if we believe; persevere in hope; surrender to love.

Jesus warns that three things make our hearts “bad soil,” unable to accept his message:

1. “carousing”—just “living it up,” following the “beaten path” of a culture hardened against the seeds of God’s word.

2. the “drunkenness” of addiction to superficial input that keeps us from reflecting deeply on God’s word.

3. the “anxieties of daily life” that compete with the challenge and values of the Good News.

These are the hard, rocky (shallow) and thorny ground of Matthew 13:1. If we don’t stay alert to them, our hearts become “drowsy.” Then Christ’s coming into our life will “catch us by surprise,” and find us in a “trap” of our own making.

  

PRAY: “Lord, make me a waker-upper.”

PRACTICE: During Advent, wake up and wake up.