Thursday, August 25 2016 Thursday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 1 Cor 1:1-9

Paul, called to be an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
and Sosthenes our brother,
to the Church of God that is in Corinth,
to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy,
with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give thanks to my God always on your account
for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in him you were enriched in every way,
with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful,
and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

R. (1) I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
Generation after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
They discourse of the power of your terrible deeds
and declare your greatness.
They publish the fame of your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your justice.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.

Alleluia Mt 24:42a, 44

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stay awake! 
For you do not know when the Son of Man will come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mt 24:42-51

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: 
if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’
and begins to beat his fellow servants,
and eat and drink with drunkards,
the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day
and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

REFLECTION

ALWAYS PREPARED AND PREPARING

"You must be prepared." –Matthew 24:44

Jesus warns us to be prepared for His final coming and the end of the world. In fact, we must be alwaysprepared since we "cannot know the day" our Lord is coming (Mt 24:42).

Jesus describes our preparations in four ways: 

1. working to give food to those in need (Mt 24:45-46). While this can refer to feeding people physically (see Mt 25:35), Jesus is probably referring to dispensing the spiritual food of God's Word (see Mt 4:4) by our witnessing, preaching, and teaching. Dispensing food is sharing our faith and sharing the Word. 
2. getting to know Jesus personally (see Mt 25:12). Only by the anointing and the oil (see Mt 25:4) of the Spirit can we deeply know Jesus as Lord (see 1 Cor 12:3). 
3. being a good and faithful steward of all the possessions, time, energy, opportunities, talents, gifts, etc. which the Lord has assigned us to manage (Mt 25:21). 
4. expressing our faith in Jesus by good works, especially for the poor (see Mt 25:35-40). 

Preparing for Jesus' final coming is not to be a last-minute preparation but the heart and focus of our whole lives.

PRAYER:	Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!
PROMISE:	"You lack no spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus." –1 Cor 1:7-8
PRAISE:	St. Louis promoted knowing Jesus personally by starting perpetual adoration. He put his earthly kingship in the service of the King of Kings.