Tuesday of Week 21 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3,14-17 | Psalm 95:10-13 | Matthew 23:23-26
Will the world end tomorrow?
Does it matter?
St. Paul urges us and the Thessalonians in today’s reading to not put any store in the many predictions of the End Times. Rather, he exhorts us to focus on being models of charity and love in the here and now, secure in the knowledge that God our Father and Jesus His only Son will continue to comfort and strengthen us in our Christian endeavours.
In our parish sanctuary, and probably in all others, there is a commendation to our beloved padres:
Priest of God,
Celebrate this Mass
As though it were
Your first Mass,
Your last Mass,
Your only Mass.
Similarly, let us remind ourselves to live each day as if it might be our last day on earth, not by sinking into the depths of hedonism, but by rising to the challenge of living by the light of Christ. As the popular admonition goes:
If you had 24 hours left to live, what would you do differently…and why aren’t you doing it anyway?
Fr. Cornelius reminded us this past Sunday that we have a race to finish, so we might as well run it:
Through His grace,
With His grace,
In His grace.
Amen.