Lk 17:26-37
As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be on the day the Son of Man comes. In those days people ate and drank and got married; but on the day Noah entered the ark, the flood came and destroyed them all. So it was in the days of Lot: people ate and drank, and bought and sold, and planted and built; but on the day Lot left Sodom, God made fire and sulfur rain down from heaven, which destroyed them all. So will it be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, if you are on the rooftop, don’t go down into the house to get your belongings; and if you happen to be in the fields, do not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever gives his life will be born again.
I tell you, though two men are sharing the same bed, it might happen that one will be taken, and the other left; though two women are grinding meal together, one might be taken and the other left.”
“Then they asked Jesus, “Where will this take place, Lord?” And he answered, “Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.”
REFLECTION
Jesus likes to draw lessons from the events of the Old Testament. This is the background of Israelites. That should be also our biblical foundation to enter into God’s Revelation.
Today we have allusions to the book of Genesis: the universal flood and Noah (Gen 6-8) and the destruction of Sodom and Lot (Gen 19). In both cases there is urgency because of the punishment – water or fire – but in both cases the people didn’t expect the terrible event.
The day of the Son of Man will similarly be sudden and hasty. There will be no possibility to come back. Jesus reminds his audience of Lot’s wife who looked back and became a pillar of salt. The frequent floods in the Philippines give us an idea of this pressure. Even if sometimes there are announcements, the phenomenon as such is devastating. an example perhaps of the final judgment. It is not the moment to keep to oneself but to give oneself entirely.
Can we see the end as an allusion to the risen body of Christ that comes with majesty in the midst of the whole creation?
Thus at the end of the liturgical year, the readings remind us of the final events to awaken our hope and the urgency of our souls’ preparation with confidence and peace.
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