Daily Reflection for Friday, August 28, 2020
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners!
We encourage you to reflect on Friday’s readings at this link:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082820.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: 1 Corinthians 1: 17-25
Responsorial: Psalm 33: 1-2, 4-5, 10-11
Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13
Our reflection on Friday’s readings:
At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
Matthew 25: 1-13.
At midnight. Amidst the darkness. Time for the revelation. The Light of the World.
The first parable of Matthew 25 tells us that the kingdom of heaven will be like a wedding feast. Our world could use a wedding feast about now.
In the Gospel parable, the bridesmaids were told to stay awake for the bridegroom who would come to let the wedding begin. All ten bridesmaids fell asleep, but five of them were prepared. They had oil for their lamps to light the way to the wedding.
The other five were not prepared. They did not meet the bridegroom, and they did not get to the feast. They were not part of the light and did not drive out the darkness.
This parable is about preparing and being ready. I should be actively preparing myself, doing the work of the Lord, and getting the world ready for Christ’s return. “Prepare a way for the Lord” as we are told in Matthew 3:3.
We are reminded in the Responsorial Psalm that the plans we all had have been foiled and frustrated.
[The LORD’s] works are trustworthy. He loves justice and right. The earth is full of the mercy of the LORD. [He] foils the plan of nations, frustrates the designs of peoples. Psalm 33: 4-5, 10.
It is time to ensure that our plans include what the Lord loves - justice and right. The Psalm says the Lord’s works are trustworthy. So should we be trustworthy – dependable for truth, justice and right.
After his house had been bombed and his family threatened, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “Loving Your Enemies” sermon. He preached, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
In today’s Gospel, Matthew reminds me that I know “neither the day nor the hour” when our Lord will appear. Will I be prepared and ready?
But I also must ask, “Am I preparing a way for the Lord? Am I shining His light of truth, justice and love?”
Peace and blessings,
Al Mytty