READINESS

 

HOMILIA DIÁRIA

PADRE PAULO RICARDO

01. TERÇA-FEIRA – 29ª SEMANA DO TEMPO COMUM

24 – OUTUBRO – 2023 – EVANGELHO – SÃO LUCAS

12, 35-38

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amén. My dear brothers and sisters, in today’s Gospel, Jesus exhorts us that we must be ready to receive him at any moment. Here are the words of Our Lord: “May your loins be girded and the lamps burning” For us, it’s a slightly different vocabular, something we’re not used to. Let’s understand. At the time of Jesus, people wore a long tunic and in everyday life, to be able to perform various tasks, it was necessary to put on a girdle, that is, astrap, a type of rope around the waist, to free the legs and be able to walk with more dexterity. Furthermore, girding the kidneys, that is, tightening this strap around the kidneys also gave firmness to be able to carry weights or travel long distances: therefore, to gird up your kidneys is to be ready to serve. If a person takes off the cord and lets the long tunic fall to the floor, it is a sign that they are no longer in service, they are ready to sleep. Jesus says, “Let your loins be girded.” We are slaves, servants of God ready to serve at any moment. “And your lamps are lit.” Another sign that shows that we are ready to go to sleep and rest, to be calm and happy, is to turn off the lamp and thus be able to rest. Jesus wants us to be ready to serve God at any time. We have to have this attitude towards life. We are in this world, not for ourselves: it is important that we are ready to receive God’s visita at all times. You will say like this: “But, Father, this is inhumane. Why can’t we have a break?” In the first place,the devil doesn’t take time off: he waits for exactly that moment, when you will be free, to visit you; the devil does not lose focus: he has a single purpose, to will be free, to visit you; the devil does not lose focus: he has a single purpose, to take you to hell. He waits for the moment, he waits for the hour, he has patience; after all, he has your entire life for you to ultimately die in mortal sin and be lost. So, if the your entire life for you ultimately die in mortal sin and be lost. So, if the devil has a focus, if the devil comes at any time, it means that we cando the opposite, in a positive way: have a focus – the “only necessary” -, be focusedon Jesus all the time. This does not tire, my dears; on the contrary, what is tiring is being far from God, being forgotten about God. It is the forgetfulness of God that causes us to be carried from one side to the other, like a small boat buffeted by the waves. But if we have that anchor, that memory of God: “I am not for me. I am a servant. I came to this world for God. I am for Him”, and if the Lord comes and returns to the wedding feast at any time, “happy”, says Jesus, “are the servants whom the Lord finds awake when he arrives”, that is, find awake and ready to serve it when it arrives. What will the reward be? One of the most beautiful passages in the Gospel, one of the most moving things. He says: “Truly I say to you, He Himself”, the Lord Himself, jesus Himself, “will gird Himself like a servant and make them sit down at the table, and as He passes by, He will serve them”. what an extraordinary thing. Let us be ready at any time to serve God because, when He comes, in ruth it is not us who serve Him, it is He who serve us and feeds us spiritually. What a sublime truth, what an extraordinary thing. Indeed, “servire Deo regnare est”, to serve God is to be ready to serve with girded kidneys, lit lamps, at any time, ready to follow the Lord’s slightest indication. It isto reign because, when He comes, He does not come to crush us; He comes to us serve and feed us. God bless you. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. 24/10/2023 – 09h29min