READY FOR THE LORD
Introduction
The short letters of John (2 and 3) seem to be anterior to I John. Like in the longer letter, their aim is to ask the young Church to be firm in the faith and to be animated by love.
Jesus reprimands those who fail to see the signs of his coming in judgment. His coming is not an exceptional event, for Jesus blames the people for their careless lack of vigilance in daily life. He keeps coming, and this is why people have to be ready always.
Opening Prayer
Our saving God,
we are your people on the march
who try to carry out the task
of giving shape to your kingdom of love and peace.
When we are discouraged and afraid or careless,
keep us going forward in hope,
make us vigilant in prayer,
that we may see the signs of your Son’s coming.
Let Jesus walk with us already now
on the road he has shown us,
that he may lead us to you,
our living God for ever and ever. Amen!
1 Reading: 2 John 4-9
Chosen Lady: I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth just as we were commanded by the Father. But now, Lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing a new commandment but the one we have had from the beginning: let us love one another. For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning, in which you should walk. Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; such is the deceitful one and the antichrist. Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for but may receive a full recompense. Anyone who is so “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.
Responsorial Psalm PS 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD. R.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart. R.
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands. R.
Within my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you. R.
Be good to your servant, that I may live
and keep your words. R.
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law. R.
Alleluia Luke 21:28
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Luke 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.”
Commentary
Heterodoxy has affected the community to which the Second Letter of John is written. The author begins by encouraging those who continue to walk in the truth, observing the primary commandment of love. More disturbing, however, is the fact that there are some in the Christian community who are claiming that Christ did not really come as a man. This false idea may have been from the Gnostics or some group allied with them who saw anything material, including the human body, as evil. Their teaching, says the author, is clearly spurious. Many may call themselves progressive, but they have separated themselves from the truth and from God.
By the time of the Johannine literature, the belief in the early return of Christ had begun to recede. When there was a departure from the authentic teaching, this was more to the forefront. The community must retain its unity, that oneness for which Christ prayed in John’s Gospel before he died.
What is common to today’s first and second readings is a spirit of alertness. The Lord may call us at any time, and the community may become divided over particular issues. We must be seriously attentive to the word of God and conscious of the importance of retaining the unity of the community of faith.
Intercessions
– For the Church, the People of God, that we may not be self-sure, proud and triumphant, but aware of our poverty, our ills, and our constant need of conversion to the gospel of Christ, we pray:
– For a world of violence, denial of rights and discrimination, that people may build to one another roads of friendship, respect and freedom, we pray:
– For all of us in this community, that we may hasten the coming of God’s new heaven and new earth by making straight our tortuous ways of selfishness and pride, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God of our hope,
as a pledge of your promises
you give us your Son Jesus Christ
in these signs of bread and wine.
We do not ask you for a life
without problems and risks
but for your Son’s vision
of a world in which you are present
and for your Son’s courage
to answer with our very lives
your call to build up a new world
in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
our hope and our future,
you let your Son speak to us your word of hope
and renewed our strength with his bread of life.
Free our faith from banality and routine
and send us with your Son
to restore integrity and love
and the trust that with him
we can give shape to a future
beyond all human expectations,
For the future belongs to you,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen!
Blessing
Keep hoping, for there is a future. Christ is with you, and with him you can do away with violence and wars, you can defeat enmity with friendship. Keep your heads high, for the Lord Jesus is among us and with him there is hope and a future. Go with him, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!