Matthew 24: 37–44

Jesus said to his disciples. “When the Son of Man appears, things will be just as they were when Noah lived.  People were eating, drinking, and getting married right up to the day that the flood came and Noah went into the big boat.

They didn’t know anything was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man appears.

Two men will be in the same field, but only one will be taken. The other will be left.  Two women will be together grinding grain, but only one will be taken. The other will be left.

So be on your guard! You don’t know when your Lord will come.  Homeowners never know when a thief is coming, and they are always on guard to keep one from breaking in.

Always be ready! You don’t know when the Son of Man will come”.

Gospel Reflection

If you are of almost any age you will have experienced the suddenness of loss; the chaotic bewilderment of being knocked off balance. Allowing ourselves to be tempted by the immediacy of worldly pleasures we fill our lives to distraction until.. Pregnancy, whether planned or not, knocks us off balance.

The counting down, or up, demands our attention. Advent may resemble Lent in it’s watchfulness but unlike Lent, there is expectation and longing. A longing for the bewilderment to end; for the message to be heard; for the chance to begin again. An expectation that, like pregnancy, will be fulfilled in its own time.

There are those who look forward to the Second Coming with great anticipation or maybe the sense of ‘let’s get it over with’. But either way it takes our focus from the watchfulness of our vocation. We are told not to fear; to be witnesses to the freedom that has been won by Jesus’ gift, already made, for all of us. We are told to live; to live with the awareness that we may encounter Jesus in any moment and to be ready to respond in love.