IT ISN’T JUST LUCK

Isn't this just my luck, we may ask ourselves. No it isn't. The truth is, we have to work our way up to success if we really want to make it happen. Or we may be up there already but if we don't do anything to keep it that way then we are bound to lose everything. We may have heard people say that some people are really lucky and they just get everything they want so easily. Well, they probably could have but if we look very closely then we'll find out that it isn't really the way it is. The same thing is true if we have been blessed with so much by the Lord. If we don't watch ourselves closely and be on guard then we'll find ourselves losing and going down the drain sooner or later. It also helps to learn the art of delaying self gratification in pursuit of a higher good. We need to prefer virtue over vice, look forward to the ultimate goal, not be distracted and easily dissuaded by the lure of this world. Today's 1st reading is a very wise advice from the gospel of John that we all ought to take if we want that streak of luck as some people would call it and if I may say so, to remain. If we have God then we have everything, including blessing and luck or whatever we want to call it. Amen. Hallelujah!

2 John 4-9

... Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for but may receive a full recompense. 9 Anyone who is so “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.

Allow me to use the word "luck" or "swerte" in Tagalog in lieu of any other more appropriate word like blessed or pinagpala in Tagalog since I have always been hearing this word being used very often by some people in reference to certain situations within the broad context of this word. I just couldn't help but share it, first and foremost due to some personal circumstances. We often hear people say to another who is about to embark on something challenging, “good luck” If the word luck may have been associated with whatever negative meaning then consider it excluded from here and out of context for the mean time. Let's just say we would like to broaden the scope of our vocabulary. This is to further drive the point or message in today's psalm and is actually the catch here. This is to come up with an induction that following the law of the Lord is just as synonymous to being blessed, lucky, swerte or pinagpala or any other word that we could closely associate with this. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Psalm 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18

R: Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. (R) 2 Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart. (R) 10 With all my heart I seek you; let me not stray from your commands. (R) 11 Within my heart I treasure your promise, that I may not sin against you. (R) 17 Be good to your servant, that I may live and keep your words. (R) 18 Open my eyes, that I may consider the wonders of your law.

Then again we may ask ourselves after reading these passages from today's gospel, isn't it just the luck that one will be taken, the other left. No, it isn't. Like what Jesus said, “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." Luck in this case won't bring us anywhere we would like to be on that final day. We have to be perfectly aware of this and not leave any of these things to chance nor should we take it for granted for what’s at stake here is our final destiny and salvation. It is very fascinating and inspiring if we will really take time to always connect to God through the daily scriptural readings in the mass then we'll often find that they match our daily circumstances very well. Like what usually happens when we are in a situation wherein somebody has to choose someone. And we ended up being the one chosen. Or it may be just something that is not really worth paying attention to for some people but it still is something, no matter how trivial it may seem, that reminded me that God makes Himself known to us whether in big or small things. Not everybody will be saved that is a fact and we really have to run the race well. Sounds scary, huh? This gospel is a challenge if we choose to be in Noah's and Lot's side of the boat. From the story that we hear way back when we were still kids, Noah's family was spared in the great flood but the bible also says that Lot's very own wife was not spared, why? Because she looked back, the Lord is urging us to always focus our gaze on Him and not get distracted no matter what happens around us. It is not an assurance that if we belong to a certain group or family then we are guaranteed of being saved, it will always depend on our response to God's offer of salvation if we want to accept it wholeheartedly or not. How can we not believe in a God who constantly makes His presence known to us all? God responds to us in the sweetest and most personal way. Amen. Hallelujah! 

Luke 17:26-37

26 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; 27 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. 28 Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 29 on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. 30 So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. 32 Remember the wife of Lot. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. 35 And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.” 36 37 They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”