GOD'S WORD IN DAILY LIFE
12 November/Friday/32nd Week in Ordinary Time,
Wis 13,1-9/Psa 19,2-3.4-5/Luke 17,26-37
By Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, SVD
First Reading Wisdom 13:1-9
How have those who investigated the world been so slow to find its Master?
Naturally stupid are all men who have not known God and who, from the good things that are seen, have not been able to discover Him-who-is,
or, by studying the works, have failed to recognise the Artificer.
Fire however, or wind, or the swift air,
the sphere of the stars, impetuous water, heaven’s lamps,
are what they have held to be the gods who govern the world.
If, charmed by their beauty, they have taken things for gods,
let them know how much the Lord of these excels them,
since the very Author of beauty has created them.
And if they have been impressed by their power and energy,
let them deduce from these how much mightier is he that has formed them,
since through the grandeur and beauty of the creatures
we may, by analogy, contemplate their Author.
Small blame, however, attaches to these men,
for perhaps they only go astray
in their search for God and their eagerness to find him;
living among his works, they strive to comprehend them
and fall victim to appearances, seeing so much beauty.
Even so, they are not to be excused:
if they are capable of acquiring enough knowledge
to be able to investigate the world,
how have they been so slow to find its Master?
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 18(19):2-5
The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God,
and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.
Day unto day takes up the story
and night unto night makes known the message.
No speech, no word, no voice is heard
yet their span extends through all the earth,
their words to the utmost bounds of the world.
Gospel Acclamation Heb 4:12
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of God is something alive and active:
it can judge secret emotions and thoughts.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 17:26-37
When the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed
Jesus said to the disciples: ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It will be the same as it was in Lot’s day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed.
‘When that day comes, anyone on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must not come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back either. Remember Lot’s wife. Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe. I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed: one will be taken, the other left; two women will be grinding corn together: one will be taken, the other left.’ The disciples interrupted. ‘Where, Lord?’ they asked. He said, ‘Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.’
Reflection
One of the perennial questions asked by believers or Christians is why some people are not able to come to the knowledge of God by observing and studying his works of creation. We Christians are convinced that it is possible to come to faith by carefully contemplating the works of God in the universe. The Psalmist confirms this in the Responsorial Psalm of the day as he affirms that “the heavens proclaim the glory of God, and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands”.
The reading further questions why some people decide to worship nature instead of the Creator of the universe. The author considers foolish those who fail to know God from studying his works. It is strange that people prefer to take the created for a god instead of seeking the Creator behind such objects. Despite his condemnation of their action, he expresses a certain sense of compassion toward such people as he acknowledges that some of them are well-intentioned as they are indeed looking for the right direction but only fail to attain it. It is here that the responsibility of Christians comes into play. It is by our evangelizing ministry that we can help worshippers of nature and all who seek the right direction to discover the one and only true God. We do not have to argue with such people about the existence of God because most of such people do not question the existence of God. If they do, they would not worship the created instead of the Creator. What we are called to do is to lead them to the discovery of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
The Gospels hold the key to the discovery of the God of the universe as revealed to us by Jesus Christ. He tells us that no one has seen the Father except the Son and anyone who reveals him to us. We are privileged to know the Father, thanks to Jesus Christ. Let us become fervent ministers of his word. In this way, we would make him known to our brothers and sisters so that together we may worship the one and only true God. It is only in this way that we and our contemporaries can avoid the fate of the contemporaries of Lot of which we read in the Gospel Reading.