By your Perseverance you will Secure your Lives."

Today's Mass Readings

As we reach toward the end of the liturgical year, the reading begin to focus our attention on the end times as well. Thus all of today's reading in some way or another prepare us for the eventuality of meeting Christ either in the second coming, or through our personal end, or welcoming Christ at Christmas time. Last Friday, one the contributors to the daily reflection Dr. Jeff Morrow, made a fabulous connection between the apocalyptic readings and the Eucharist. According to him, the coming of Jesus in the final days is best literally understood as the “Unveiling” of Christ. In the apocalypse, Jesus is unveiled as a lamb as though slain. This points us to the Eucharist. At every Eucharist, the is a coming of Jesus; every Eucharist there is an unveiling of His presence. Just as the Jesus unveiled himself before his disciples on the road to Emmaus in the breaking of the bread he unveils himself at every breaking of the bread (Lk 24:13-35). The Eucharist is one of the best ways for us to prepare ourselves for Jesus’ coming, since it is both a foretaste of that final second coming, and also the very presence of Jesus Himself.

The Christ that will come on the last day or the Christ we will meet at our own end is the very Christ will meets us in every Eucharist. Think about the next sentence as a real possibility. We might be only as prepared to meet Jesus on the last day as we are today to receive Jesus in every Eucharist. Is that a reason for us to be afraid or does that make us confident to meet him? Only we know the answer to that question.

AS Jesus says to us in the gospel reading today, "By your perseverance you will secure your lives" (Luke 21:19).

- Fr. Satish Joseph