Would you be ready in hearth and heart for the Second Coming today, tonight, tomorrow?
The liturgy reading for this Sunday according to the United States Conference of Bishops is Luke 12: 32-48.
Basically, Jesus is saying to live a Christian life because man does not know when He will return to Earth and call the Faithful Home.
In the bulletin, the summary paragraphs of the lesson asked if your were ready for Christ’s Second Coming? Are there things in your house, Facebook posts, internet history, books, etc. that would shame you in Christ’s presence. Also, is your heart ready? Do you have a clear conscience?
Huh.
Father said, in his homily, that we won’t be judged by the stuff we accumulate or the accolades we have—but how we loved.
An example: Michael A Monsoor, a proud United States Navy Seal. Pinned down behind a wall during a fire fight, an insurgent threw a grenade over the wall. The grenade landed in the middle of Monsoor and his American and Iraqi two brothers-in-arms.
“Grenade!” he yelled as he threw himself onto the grenade.
He lived long enough to be anointed by a priest and he saved the lives of those around him. Two years later, President G. W. Bush, who has attended Monsoor’s funeral, awarded him the Medal of Honor posthumously.
Father said that his family was grief-stricken, but not surprised because he was always looking out for other people before himself. He proved his love, Father said. How do you prove yours?
Father was not suggesting that we all throw ourselves on grenades so to speak, but that we make sacrifices, big and small, for other people.
If I see one more cornfield…the Nuclear Option may be the only option—but G-Pa loves drives in the country, so that’s what he gets. A woman gave me two dollars when I was short at the Laundromat. I got up and held the door for a couple with four canes between them. My parents drove hours to and fro trying their best to keep me alive. A girl admired a priest’s bracelet and he gave it to her. A woman at Caroline’s was patient with me while I muddled through the check-out procedure. (A fucking calculator!) My sister stayed home with the menagerie when my grandmother died, so my mother, father, and I could go to the funeral. Every day I asked T. “How can I make your life better today?” The Amazon Kindle tech stayed on the phone with me for an hour trying to figure how to keep my game progress from one kindle to another. Aunt Faerie doesn’t cook anything with corn, hot peppers, onions, or veggie crumbles Sloppy Joe’s, because I don’t eat those things. Aunt Faerie makes sure that G-Pa always has a healthy dinner and lunch. Christ “threw himself on the grenade of our sins.”
I may not love or even like myself—but on some level I must, because I have not taken the Nuclear Option. I don’t fear death. But, I know how to love. Of that, I am sure. To paraphrase: it is never a sin to love; the sin is not returning that love. (Which movie?) T. couldn’t love me because alcohol is his one and only true, give-up-his-life love for him. Some people don’t know how to love or accept love.
But that’s what it comes down to. Would Jesus approve of: my tarot cards on my altar; my celebrity magazines, which is money not given to the church; my occasionally skipping mass; my taking the Lord’s name in vain; all my Barbies; the inability to pray for Asshole and T?
I think He’d forgive me. The only unforgivable sin is the sin that you do not allow God to forgive you for. The only unforgivable sin is believing there are unforgivable sins and judging others in that manner.
Love. I can do that. I wish it were that simple. Maybe it is. I dunno.
If Christ came tonight…I’d be okay I think.
Relieved as hell to get off this carousel!
But, in my heaven I have better have my Angel, cigarettes, and strawberry milkshakes—extra thick.
Smoke ‘em if ya’ got ‘em. God Bless
In the name of The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Mother Mary, Saint Brigid; Saint Jude; Saint Therese Lisieux; Archangel Michael, and my Guardian Angel.
PS: I am also an Eastern Star—the Catechism would be so disappointed. Let me think, did Jesus or one of his peeps write that? I don’t think so.
PPS: If Christ came like tonight--wouldn't Trump and Hillary be pissed off!
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