Monday after the Last Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 21, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. Mark 13:32-37 (NKJV)
13:32 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. 34 It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. 35 Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—36 lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”
Devotion
It wasn’t but a couple of months ago that another prediction of the end of the world was made and… well… it didn’t happen. One of the more famous predictions of the end of the world dates back to 1970 and the book “The Late Great Planet Earth.” The author’s prediction was that the world would come to an end sometime before December 31, 1988. As you see, you have to be quite old to remember the end of the world.
While one can joke about such predictions, the fact that the world is coming to an end is not a joke. That is why our Lord admonishes us, “Take heed, watch, and pray; for you do not know when the time is.” Wow! OK! So how am I to do this? Am I literally to stay awake and never sleep? How am I to “watch” with my eyes closed?
It is important to remember the words of St. Paul, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7) and “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). You “watch” for Jesus the same way you see Him now. You “watch” for Him and see Him with your ears. When you listen to God’s Word your Crucified and Risen Lord is right there with you preparing you for His return.
Prayer: Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy people from their offenses; that from the bonds of our sins which, by reason of our frailty, we have brought upon us, we may be delivered by Thy bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
