Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop
The past several months leading up to election day earlier this week were filled with consistent reminders of the division and hatred that engulf the political landscape of America. The second letter from John today reminds us of the priorities in Christian life to love one another and walk in the ways of Christ. Be on the lookout for heresy and deceit. Stay focused on the truth. What is that truth? The inseparable link between loving God and loving one another. We don’t get to pick and choose. We are commanded to love because God first loved us; God is love and therefore, the only appropriate way we could possibly respond is to pay that love forward.
In the gospel, Jesus issues a very direct warning about eating, drinking, buying, selling--enveloped in the motions and activities of the world. All of the partying and celebrating has us focused on ourselves, completely unprepared for the kingdom of God. The gospel verse uses the language, “stand erect and raise your heads” (Lk 21:36); pay attention, stay focused, love one another, prepare your hearts. We don’t take material possessions with us when we die; everything remains here on earth. How often have I trapped myself in thinking about the kingdom of Me rather than the kingdom of God. It is the ego-centric, self-serving attitude of the lost. Jesus compares our behavior to the time of Noah and also the time of Lot. “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man”. People were partying right up to the time of the flood, ignoring all of the warnings. The flood came and destroyed them all. The end had arrived but they weren’t paying attention enough to see it coming; they were unprepared.
Now is the perfect time to make thoughtful, loving choices and decisions. Today is a good day to express love in small and large ways. What is there to fear when we strive to love each and every day? The day of the Son of Man will come; our love for one another prepares us for that day. We decide. What will we choose? What will be our story? What is our flood that will destroy the world as we know it? Are we preparing our hearts for the coming of the Lord? How are we aligning our lives to the truth? May we seek to configure our lives to think like Jesus, talk like Jesus, act like Jesus. Let us love one another.
Peace,
Brandon Meyer