Friday, November 14, 2008

The guys just left for up north. I can't believe how fast the year has gone. Seems like just last week they were headed up north. I guess the older one gets, the fast time seems to fly.
Update later.

Word of the day:
Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel
Lk 17:26-37

Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is on the housetop
and whose belongings are in the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.
And there will be two women grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other left.”
They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”
He said to them, “Where the body is,
there also the vultures will gather.”

Thoughts from the cornfield:
As we approach the end of the liturgical year, the readings darken and we begin to hear about the second coming of Christ. As a church musician, the season of Advent is a challenge. The world around us is firmly rooted in Christmas - the stores begin playing Christmas music (the day after Halloween), the age old battle between those who say "Happy Holidays" and those who say "Merry Christmas" is revived yet again, people stress out about shopping and cooking and preparing for the big day - the day we celebrate Jesus coming to us as a baby in a manger. But listen closely to the Sunday readings. We prepare not only for the birth of Jesus; the readings are telling us we must prepare for his return. Again and again we are warned to be ready. As we prepare our homes by hanging the tinsel and lights to celebrate Jesus' birth, we must also prepare our hearts to be ready for his return.


God bless our troops!