{"id":28252,"date":"2015-08-27T18:03:08","date_gmt":"2015-08-28T00:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=20469"},"modified":"2017-04-17T21:58:38","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T01:58:38","slug":"like-a-thief-in-the-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/like-a-thief-in-the-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Like a Thief in the Night","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Thursday, August 27th, 2015
Memorial of St. Monica<\/p>\n

Liturgical texts here<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSTAY AWAKE!\u201d<\/b> <\/b>Those are the opening words in today\u2019s Gospel. \u201cFor you do not know on which day your Lord will come.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2000 years later, how can we understand these, and other related words in the Scriptures? The perennial interpretation common to the pulpit is that we should understand them as the \u201cpersonal\u201d coming of Christ at the end of our individual lives for our own \u201cparticular judgment.\u201d And this interpretation is not only correct, but healthy and essential because we truly do not know the hour or day when we will stand naked before God and our eternal destiny will be settled. As it says in today\u2019s Psalm:<\/p>\n

\n

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There is nothing morbid about meditating upon the frailty and brevity of one\u2019s life. In fact, it is a readily available medicine to heal us when we become too worldly, too caught up in our plans, too absorbed in either our sufferings or joys.<\/p>\n

And yet, we do harm to the Scriptures to omit the other meaning of this passage that is just as relevant.<\/p>\n

\n

For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night. When people are saying, \u201cPeace and security,\u201d then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (1 Thess 5:2-3)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In fact, brothers and sisters, when we take into account the events of the past four centuries since the Enlightenment; [1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. A Woman and a Dragon<\/i><\/a><\/span><\/span>