BE VIGILANT AT ALL TIMES AND PRAY THAT YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH TO ESCAPE THE TRIBULATIONS THAT ARE IMMINENT AND TO STAND BEFORE THE SON OF MAN.” LK 21:34-36
Humbly submit your will to God (Thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Mary and Joseph.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.” Lk 21:34-36
Today, in the Gospel of Luke, we come to the end. Jesus has warned us for the last two weeks to be prepared for His Coming. Advent begins tomorrow, so we should party like rock stars tonight counting down the seconds to midnight welcoming in a new year in the liturgical calendar. Why not? We do it for our secular calendar on Dec. 31st. We make commitments to change our lives. We need to take time in the next four weeks to prepare our hearts for Christ’s coming at His birth and be ready at any time for His Second Coming and make commitments to change in our spiritual life.
Reject Satan and grow in holiness is our vow to God in baptism. A vow is a free, deliberate promise made to God to do something that is good and that is more pleasing to God than its omission would be. The one vowing must realize that a special sin is committed by violating the promise.
A vow binds under pain of sin (grave or slight) according to the intention of the one taking the vow. If one vows with regard to grave matter, one is presumed to intend to bind oneself under pain of serious sin.
Vows enhance the moral value of human actions on several counts. They unite the soul to God by a new bond of religion, and so the acts included under the vow become also acts of religion. Hence they are more meritorious. By taking a vow, a person surrenders to God the moral freedom of acting otherwise, like the one who not only gives at times the fruit of the tree, but gives up the tree itself.
And vows forestall human weakness, since they do not leave matters to the indecision or caprice of the moment. Their very purpose is to invoke divine grace to sustain one’s resolution until the vow expires or, in the case of perpetual vows, even until death). Where can you grow and accept Christ better in your life? Based on Fr. John Hardon’s Modern Catholic Dictionary at Catholic Culture.com
What sin are we chained to? Never give up, be vigilant, continue to come back to Christ in confession and the Eucharist. He knew we would need the Catholic ER badly that is why He gave us these beautiful sacraments. ”Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Jesus teaches us that it will be one heck of a battle for holiness, but the reward is to “stand before the Son of Man.” Wow! Are you willing to give everything up for that? You get to meet the Man who took all of your sin and suffering and nailed it to a cross, so you could be free.
There will be no greater peace than that which is what your heart truly desires. Bishop Barron says in his book “The Strangest Way”, “The way which is the Christian life begins and ends with the man who is God dying on a cross. Strange isn’t it?
Today’s challenge: Pray. Ask Christ what area of your life needs work the most to be prepared for judgment day. Put your electronics down and spend time with people and helping others.
Be a servant, be a saint today!
#Christian YOLO
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