A priest-friend narrated his experience of celebrating a funeral for a 22-year old young man, son of a farmer from Liloan. The cause of his death was strange: he was struck by a powerful lightning. The day he died was as ordinary as other days. Who would have thought that he would be gone so soon? When he noticed after lunch that a heavy rain would pour, he was intent in helping his father in the field despite his mother’s warning. Being a responsible son, duty was sacred for him. It was already drizzling when he arrived in their little hut. Just as he was pulling off the mobile phone charger from its socket, the forceful lightning struck. He must have been hit by a million volts of electricity that threw him on the floor lifeless. His father had to struggle to bring him to the nearest hospital but he was declared dead on arrival. Death is such a heartless traitor.
In today’s gospel reading (Lk 12:35-40), Jesus warns his disciples to be prepared. “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding.” He invites his listeners to be vigilant. The biblical approach to the future involves prayer, preparation and planning. This future may mean the Parousia or the Second Coming of Christ; but it can also refer to our own death when God tells us: “your time is up!” The Book of Revelation has an iconic description of Jesus who says: “Behold, I stand at the door and knocks” (Rev 3:20). Vigilance involves a prayerful attitude of seeking the Lord with all our heart. In the gospels, Jesus teaches his disciples about living and growing in closeness to God who is our Father.
Moreover, vigilance means preparing to deal with life as it comes. In reality, we don’t plan the future because much of what happens to us are uncontrollable. Sickness, an accident, a crisis, death of a loved one – they happen without our consent. They are beyond our control. But we need faith to believe that God has a better plan for us in the future and he desires only what is good for us. Hence, God does the planning while we do the preparing by entrusting our future to the Lord.
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