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Word Among Us


Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin (Memorial)

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Daily Meditation: Luke 17:26-37

So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:30)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus describes “the days of the Son of Man”—the days leading to his Second Coming—as coming upon us with alarming suddenness (Luke 17:26). People will not be expecting it because they will be too busy “eating and drinking, marrying,” and “buying, selling, planting, [and] building” (Luke 17:27, 28). It will be, Jesus says, just as it was in the days of Noah and Lot.

We might think the people back then should have been more careful and alert. But there was nothing inherently wrong with doing the ordinary things mentioned here. We should plan weddings and build homes. We should buy groceries, prepare meals, and go to work. The truth is, we have no idea when Jesus will return, so it’s not a wise strategy to stop everything and keep checking the skies for him.

There is a middle ground between getting caught up in end-time predictions and living as if Jesus will never return. Of course, we should carve out time for prayer and Scripture reading so that we are in touch with the Lord. But that takes up only a small portion of our days. What if we also tried to pay more attention to the Lord as we went about our everyday lives? What if we took a different approach to those activities that Jesus mentions?

  • “Eating” can become a time to thank God for providing for your needs and to share about his goodness with your family.
  • “Planting” can be a time to honor the beauty of God revealed in his creation.
  • “Building,” whether building a family or a business, can be done with love and faithfulness and in a way that mirrors the goodness and generosity of God our Creator.

When we invite the Lord to guide us in what we do, our daily activities can become opportunities to grow closer to him, and that makes us long for him more and become better prepared to welcome him when he comes again.

Today, choose just one area of your life and try to focus it a little more on Jesus. What’s important is not when he will return but how you can make him the center of your life right now!

“Lord, help me to be more ready for your return by focusing more on you right now.”

2 John 4-9
Psalm 119:1-2, 10-11, 17-18