Daily Retreat 11/19/06
2006 Nov 19 SUN: THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Dn 12: 1-3/ Ps 15(16): 5. 8. 9-10. 11 (1)/ Heb 10: 11-14. 18/ Mk 13: 24-32
From today’s readings: “At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people; it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that time.... You are my inheritance, O Lord.... For by one offering He has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.... Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, and then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.”
“I’ll get to it later!”
It’s a deadly dismissal, a frightening phrase we all use all our lives - starting in childhood, when we’re busy playing a game or watching a TV show, and Mom says, “Time to take out the trash,” and the inevitable sassy answer is, “I’ll get to it later.” Then we have that big project due at school, or at work, but it’s not due for another two weeks, so, no point on working on it now - “I’ll get to it later.” The annoying alarm clock, but it has a snooze button, so “I’ll get to it later.” There’s that one corner, attic, or room in the house with the boxes of unsorted miscellany, piling up and piling up, but no problem, because “I’ll get to it later.” Then there’s those issues in family life, the tensions and unresolved problems that we really need to discuss openly together as a family, but since it’s bound to be a long, drawn out matter, and it’s so hard anyway to get everyone in the house to sit down together, “I’ll get to it later.”
Of course, each one of us has many additions to this list which “I’ll get to it later.” But, whether it’s the trash that doesn’t get out on time, or the project that’s slapped together at the last minute and turned in late anyway, the alarm clock defeated in its purpose by abuse of the snooze, or the junk pile that gets out of control, or the family issues that never get resolved and so fester forever — “I’ll get to it later” is just not a safe statement, and we all know it - it’s a deadly disastrous dismissal!
What about the end of your life and the end of the world? It’s unsettling how often and how relentlessly the Bible reminds us about “The End,” and with the reminder, the insistence: “IT is important - you need to pray about IT, think about IT, you need to prepare yourself for IT, help prepare your loved ones for IT....” And we’re all convinced “Yes, the end of my life, and the end of the world - IT is so important, IT requires the utmost preparation....and.... I’ll get to it later....”
At that time when Michael, the great prince, arises,
in those days when the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the Heavens will be shaken,
at the moment when the Son of Man will send out the angels
and gather His elect from the four winds,
THEN, none of us will be saying, or thinking, “I’ll get to it later.”
To their everlasting horror and disgrace, some will certainly be regretting, “Why didn’t I get to that sooner?”
But don’t miss the Good News, because those who set the LORD ever before themselves, those who are being consecrated, made holy, by the Great High Priest (Jesus, the Son of Man), those who lead the many to justice, shall be like the stars forever, eternally relieved to have responded at this time, to have responded TODAY, to have responded at this moment to God’s Revelation with the realization that there’s just not enough time - not enough time left for you or me to continue hitting that scriptural snooze button by perpetually postponing the Word of God with that deadly disastrous dismissal: “I’ll get to it later.”
Dn 12: 1-3/ Ps 15(16): 5. 8. 9-10. 11 (1)/ Heb 10: 11-14. 18/ Mk 13: 24-32
From today’s readings: “At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people; it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that time.... You are my inheritance, O Lord.... For by one offering He has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.... Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, and then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.”
“I’ll get to it later!”
It’s a deadly dismissal, a frightening phrase we all use all our lives - starting in childhood, when we’re busy playing a game or watching a TV show, and Mom says, “Time to take out the trash,” and the inevitable sassy answer is, “I’ll get to it later.” Then we have that big project due at school, or at work, but it’s not due for another two weeks, so, no point on working on it now - “I’ll get to it later.” The annoying alarm clock, but it has a snooze button, so “I’ll get to it later.” There’s that one corner, attic, or room in the house with the boxes of unsorted miscellany, piling up and piling up, but no problem, because “I’ll get to it later.” Then there’s those issues in family life, the tensions and unresolved problems that we really need to discuss openly together as a family, but since it’s bound to be a long, drawn out matter, and it’s so hard anyway to get everyone in the house to sit down together, “I’ll get to it later.”
Of course, each one of us has many additions to this list which “I’ll get to it later.” But, whether it’s the trash that doesn’t get out on time, or the project that’s slapped together at the last minute and turned in late anyway, the alarm clock defeated in its purpose by abuse of the snooze, or the junk pile that gets out of control, or the family issues that never get resolved and so fester forever — “I’ll get to it later” is just not a safe statement, and we all know it - it’s a deadly disastrous dismissal!
What about the end of your life and the end of the world? It’s unsettling how often and how relentlessly the Bible reminds us about “The End,” and with the reminder, the insistence: “IT is important - you need to pray about IT, think about IT, you need to prepare yourself for IT, help prepare your loved ones for IT....” And we’re all convinced “Yes, the end of my life, and the end of the world - IT is so important, IT requires the utmost preparation....and.... I’ll get to it later....”
At that time when Michael, the great prince, arises,
in those days when the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the Heavens will be shaken,
at the moment when the Son of Man will send out the angels
and gather His elect from the four winds,
THEN, none of us will be saying, or thinking, “I’ll get to it later.”
To their everlasting horror and disgrace, some will certainly be regretting, “Why didn’t I get to that sooner?”
But don’t miss the Good News, because those who set the LORD ever before themselves, those who are being consecrated, made holy, by the Great High Priest (Jesus, the Son of Man), those who lead the many to justice, shall be like the stars forever, eternally relieved to have responded at this time, to have responded TODAY, to have responded at this moment to God’s Revelation with the realization that there’s just not enough time - not enough time left for you or me to continue hitting that scriptural snooze button by perpetually postponing the Word of God with that deadly disastrous dismissal: “I’ll get to it later.”
posted by FrPitstick | 11/16/2006
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