December 10, 2019

Holy Martyrs Menas, Hermogenes and Eugraphus

Nativity Fast.

Read
1 Timothy 5:11-21; Luke 17:26-37

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is using Old Testament examples, namely the stories of Noah and the flood and Lot and Sodom, to illustrate for us His glorious second coming. Just as no one knows the time of the second coming of Christ, you and I also do not know when the end of our own life will occur. We live not knowing when or how our life will end.

Without the knowledge of the end of our own life, we must live as if every day is our last day in this temporal life. We should live in a way that values each and every moment we have, the people we encounter, the events we experience, always calling to mind the presence of God in the present moment. At times, we desire to change the past, which is impossible, or to plan for the future, which can be unrealistic, while forgetting the importance of living in the now.

This now could be the final moment of our life, so may we live in it, cherishing and embracing the Lord’s presence in the people we meet and the experiences in which we live.