Get ready

Three years ago tomorrow, Hurricane Katrina struck the northern gulf coast of the United States and the city of New Orleans, killing thousands.

Five days from now, another hurricane may hit the New Orleans area and a few days after that, another hurricane may hit the eastern United States.

Today, in the Gospel (Matthew 24:42-51), our Lord tells us to get ready: not for hurricanes, but for when he will come for us.

“Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant
whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Amen, I say to you,
he will put him in charge of all his property.
But if that wicked servant says to himself,
‘My master is long delayed,’
and begins to beat his fellow servants,
and eat and drink with drunkards,
the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day
and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, be merciful to me – a sinner.

By the grace of our Lord ans Savior Jesus Christ, may the words of today's first reading (1 Corinthians 1:1-9) be true for us:

He will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful,
and by him you were called
to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.