(Intro) Today we have the memorial of St John Paul II, one of the outstanding Popes of modern time. We are called as St Paul reminds us this morning to be “a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” so let us be mindful of our sins and failing as we begin this Eucharist.
(After the gospel) In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us to gird our loins and light our lamps and be like servants who await his return from a wedding feast. If we are, he will gird himself and have us recline at table and proceed to wait on us. Isn’t this what takes place in the Eucharist?
So much of our lives as monks and Christians is about being ready when our loving Lord comes so that he may fill us with his own Holy Spirit. Pope Francis speaking about both St John XIII and St John Paul II says that they “were not afraid to look upon the wounds of Jesus, to touch his torn hands and his pierced side. They were not ashamed of the flesh of Christ, they were not scandalized by him, by his cross; they did not despise the flesh of their brother [or sister] (cf. Is 58:7), because they saw Jesus in every person who suffers and struggles. These were two men of courage, filled with the parrhesia of the Holy Spirit, and they bore witness before the Church and the world to God’s goodness and mercy.” Isn’t this what real vigilance is about!
Eph 2:12-22; Luke 12:35-38