Today's Gospel: Mark 13:24-32 - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Thanks, Lord, for another confusing Gospel.) It's easy to get bogged down in the ifs, ands, and buts of eschatology. But the last line of this Gospel is an answer and a challenge: But of that day or hour, no one knows. What do we do with that? Hopefully, live each day like it's quite possibly our last. Because we don't know the day or the hour of the Lord's coming, of our own deaths, or even when the next natural disaster might occur. We humans like to think we're in control, that our science and our intelligence allows us to predict and identify threats. Statistics, weather reporting, crime mapping, medical diagnoses - we trick ourselves into thinking we have the answers. But there's a great freedom and comfort in knowing that we don't, in fact, have the answers. We have hope, instead. Hope that if we live our lives well, do God's will, and learn to love Him in every moment, we don't have to worry about the next moment or the end of our lives or the end of the world. Because He loves us, and we love Him, and that's all that matters.

Ponder:

If the Lord came tomorrow, what would I have to say for myself?

Pray:

Heavenly Father, I embrace Your will for me at this moment and in every moment of my life.
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About the Author

Rebecca W. Martin

Rebecca W. Martin

Rebecca W. Martin, a trade book Acquisitions Editor for Our Sunday Visitor and Assistant Editor at Chrism Press, lives in Michigan with her husband and too many cats. A perpetually professed Lay Dominican, Rebecca serves as editor for Veritas, a quarterly Lay Dominican publication. Her children’s book Meet Sister Mary Margaret will release in fall 2023 from OSV Kids.