19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C
"Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come,” said Jesus in today’s gospel reading from the Gospel of Saint Luke 12:32-48. With these words, Jesus reminds us of the need to prepare ourselves for the judgment day or for our death. Hence, this is a call to constant devotedness to God and active watchfulness in our spiritual lives. How many of us here today are seriously preparing for the afterlife? How many of us here today are actively paying attention to our spiritual lives as Christians? If God were to call us now to Himself, how many of us here today are ready and prepared to be with God in heaven?
There is an urgent need for us to start preparing ourselves for the afterlife because as Jesus said, “for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” So how can you prepare for the afterlife or for the judgment day? What treasures are you storing up in heaven for yourself today?
In order to prepare ourselves for the end of time or for our death, we have to come closer to God. Closeness to God is the only guaranteed way through which we can attain the kingdom of heaven after our lives here on earth. So how do we come closer to God? We can come closer to God by;
-Growing daily in our spiritual lives through praying always, reading the Scriptures daily and by reading spiritual books that will help us deepen our faith in God.
-We can come closer to God by Accepting the word of God and letting the word of God we heard and received bear fruit in us. This entails being watchful of our actions so as to be true examples of Christ in everything we do.
-Lastly, we can come closer to God by living out the gospel of Christ we have heard, received and have professed.
My dear brothers and sisters, since Jesus said, "Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more," we have been entrusted with much so let us start preparing ourselves for the kingdom of heaven by coming closer to God through a personal growth in our spiritual lives, by truly accepting the word of God and by living out the gospel of Christ we profess.
