November 11, 2022

Feast of St Matin of Tours

2 John 4-9

Luke 17:26-37

Today we celebrate the feast of St Martin of Tours. Again I regret that I misplaced my book of the saints. We shall pick up a second collection for that book.

I cannot believe I have missed the exaltation from the first reading all these years. Live a life of love. Never heard it put that way before. What other kind of life is there to live? Well I don’t have to go far to realize the other kinds of lives we can live. Allow me to bring out to the surface those lives. This by the way is not meant to be negative but to call us to something else. Do you live a life of regret? Stop it! This life has no text book so we will make mistakes. Make lots of them and learn. How about you over there. Do you live a life of grief. I cannot imagine the pain of losing someone. My heart breaks for a close friend who just lost a son yesterday. I cannot even begin to call you to live another life. Yours now is a different kind but don’t lose heart. Don’t burry yourself in grief. I pray you find a way to live a life of hope, of resurrection.

Maybe there is a third out there who lives a life of fear. Your world is falling apart and you don’t know what tomorrow will be. Well I invite you to live a life of courage. You can do this. It is tough but you and our Lord are tougher.

The gospel at first glance leaves me rather empty. What do I do with this reading? And then I hear a voice, don’t look for big changes. Heck don’t look for changes at all. Just be consistent and the change will gradually overtake you. Our Lord says the kingdom of Yahweh will overtake us, consume us and we might not even notice. “People were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the flood came..”

Just another reminder to recognize what surrounds you—— God!