The unknown day and hour is the title of today’s Gospel.
Matthew 24: 37-44
For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, 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.
stay awake
THE SECOND COMING! STAY AWAKE! The unknown day and hour! We’ve all heard it before and as faithful as we are, it’s a bit scary to hear, is it not? Today, as I read this, I thought: could it be that this “second coming” is our realization that He is always present, that He resides in our hearts? Maybe THAT’S how He is released into the world?
Could “stay awake” mean be mindful, aware and present in order to recognize that He is not “out there” somewhere but “in here” in our hearts? By staying awake we get to witness day in and day out how He is working in our lives through the good and bad.
taken/left?
“One will be taken” – could taken mean converted or awakened to the true Source of joy. “One will be left” – could left mean unmoved, unaware of God’s action and presence in their life?
I feel like this Gospel is telling us not to seek Him out there. Remain present and mindful, remain open to His promptings, trust in His timing. I recently read words from Fr. Thomas Keating that have stayed with me and help me trust more: “Let what’s happening, happen.” His plans are way better than our plans. We’ll get it eventually but we have to remain open to His life and love. Surrender and trust.
When will we arrive?
The truth is we never “arrive” in this spiritual journey. Jesus tells us so when He says: “but of that day and hour no one knows.” Two steps forward, one step back – we make some progress but it’s almost as if we’re always beginning. We “arrive” when we pass from this life and of that day and hour no one knows.
Stay with me! It’s something I often say after receiving the Eucharist – stay with me Lord! I got those words from a prayer attributed to Padre Pio. The prayer is too long for me to memorize, but the image of Him staying with me is comforting.
Today though, stay with me is a request for you! This morning my mind is racing with thoughts I hope I can put to paper in some understandable fashion!
practice produces thirst
Those of you who know me, either personally or through my blog, know that I have a regular contemplative practice. I’ve been at it for quite a few years, though not always as consistent as I’d like to be. What I notice through my practice is the more I do, the more I want to do. The more I sit, the more solid my practice becomes and the more I thirst for something other than.
I desire to read, watch and listen to various forms of media focused on contemplation – it’s purpose and benefits. Recently I was listening to DVDs of Fr. Thomas Keating talking about centering prayer.
matthew 6:6
He made reference to Matthew 6:6: when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door and pray to your Father in secret and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Fr. Keating compared the “inner room” to the act of contemplation. He went on to say that “reward” in this instance is not some tangible prize as you might think but is a “flourishing or blooming of our human nature.” WOW! It’s our “transformation – we become all we can become,” he said. What an awesome promise. I’ll take it!
He goes on to say that 2 things happen in this inner room. I’ll focus on the first thing in this post. In our inner room, through the practice of contemplation, we experience an “affirmation of our basic goodness.” THAT’S the transformative power of contemplation – we begin to see the good in ourselves.
recognizing goodness
Instead of focusing on our faults and failures, we begin to recognize that we were created by God in His image and likeness and as such, we are GOOD! It’s that simple. What follows from this affirmation of basic goodness is we no longer focus on projecting our faults and failings on others through judgment but instead recognize the good in them as well. And we all live happily ever after, right? Not!
it’s complicated
Unfortunately, we spend way too much time complicating things. Scripture says Jesus came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. I don’t know about you, but to me an abundant life is a happy life. If you could come up with an image that depicted ultimate happiness what would it be? For me it would be heaven.
When I hear that Jesus came so that we could have a more abundant life, I think of experiencing heaven right here, right now. Why do we have to wait until our physical body dies before we can have an experience of heaven? I really don’t think we have to. So yes, what I’m getting at is contemplation will get us there. It will transform our way of thinking in a way that will free us up to experience all Jesus promised!
Jesus, The Way, the truth and the life
Jesus came to show us the way. He is our example. He tells us: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life!
His Way: love, peace, forgiveness and compassion summarized in the term self-emptying service (humbly serving others without expectation or egoistic motives; thinking of ourselves less and thinking of others more)
His Truth: non-duality (this wasn’t in my first draft of this post but hit me between the eyes as I edited – I know it was the Holy Spirit because THIS makes more sense). Listen here to Richard Rohr explain.
His Life: Union, unity. The vine, the head, the breath that gives us life and holds us in being. The Ultimate being whose only desire is that we love Him and one another.
Stay with me now. Jesus’ ministry was the ultimate example of self-emptying service. His life on Earth was never about Him, it was about others. He was inclusive, not exclusive. Heck, He knew Judas would betray him and yet he was still invited to Passover. He didn’t put a label on him, He just went with the flow so we could experience a deeper union with the Trinity.
He was an example for us. An example of how to live in order to experience the abundance on Earth He so clearly promised. He was an example of how to live in order to experience heaven on Earth.
the state of the union
We wonder why people are turning away from the church. I think it’s a lame excuse, but I’ve been told it’s because they witness a hypocrisy in many churchgoers. To this point, here’s part of a homily I read this morning in the Liturgy of the Hours:
My name is constantly blasphemed by unbelievers, says the Lord. Woe to the man who causes my name to be blasphemed. Why is the Lord’s name blasphemed? Because we say one thing and do another. When they hear the words of God on our lips, unbelievers are amazed at their beauty and power, but when they see that those words have no effect in our lives, their admiration turns to scorn, and they dismiss such words as myths and fairy tales.
They listen, for example when we tell them that God has said: It is no credit to you if you love those who love you but only if you love your enemies, and those who hate you. They are full of admiration at such extraordinary virtue but when they observe that we not only fail to love people who hate us, but even those who love us, they laugh us to scorn, and the name is blasphemed.
Therefore brothers, if we do the will of God the Father, we shall be members of the first spiritual church that was created before the sun and moon; but if we fail to do the will of the Lord, we shall be among those to whom it is said in Scripture: My house has been made into a robber’s den. We must choose then, if we want to be saved, to be members of the Church of life.
The first church wasn’t yours!
First spiritual church? Before sun and moon? Interesting concept, to say the least. Let’s think about that. Before the sun and moon, God was. He is and was love and thus is His will! Stay with me. If you want to be a member of His church (the one true non-denominational church, the oldest church, the first spiritual church), you must choose Life: self-emptying love that does not identify with nor recognize labels and leads to the union of ALL things! THAT’S heaven on Earth. To think that Jesus’s message is any more complicated than that is folly in my opinion.
When we start truly following Jesus by living His Way, His Truth and His Life, THAT’S when we begin to live the fairy tale. That’s when we will all live happily ever after. I hope this inspires you to look into the practice of contemplation and maybe even start. God bless you!
