Our Lord tells us in the Gospel today that we must be ready, and to be ready for his
return, he says, gird your loins and light your lamps. This girding of the loins refers to how we
need to keep control of the lusts of the flesh, and how we need to avoid sins of fornication,
adultery, sins of impurity by oneself, and all of the indecent movies and music and images that are
out there.
on the internet. And so he says, gird your loins, meaning to control the lusts of the flesh in
particular, but in a general way, it means keep the commandments and avoid doing evil. But our Lord
wants us to do more than that, more than just avoiding evil. And so he says, light your lamps.
And so this refers,
to all of the good works that we should perform, the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, the
virtues that we should practice, faith, hope, and charity, prudence, justice, temperance, and
fortitude. And one who performs the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and practices these
virtues, is like a light to the world.
He just, as our Lord says, our light should shine before men.
And so he says, if we do these things, we will be like servants who are awaiting their master's
return from a wedding. And now our Lord, right now, is taking part of the wedding feast, the
banquet in heaven, the heavenly banquet. And when he comes back from that, when he comes back from
that, when he returns from that to take our soul, we need to be these servants who are ready for his
return. Ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. And now the knocking at the door, our
Lord, when he is knocking at the door, when you are undergoing a long sickness, you know, that could
be fatal, or perhaps just simply old age.
Is our Lord knocking at the door, meaning death is around the corner. And so if our loins are girt, and our
lamps are light, we will be ready to open immediately. And see, there's a difference between souls and
their disposition when there is this knocking at the door, when death is around the corner. Some souls
rebel, and they start to grapple and
at the door. And so if our loins are girt, and our lamps are light, we will be ready to open immediately.
are let at the bed and everything, and they want to hang on to life, and they fight death coming, and the
world even tells us today, that that's a good thing, that that's valiant, to look at how strong they are.
No, that's wrong. OK? The valiant soul is the one who is ready for death. He has his loins girt and his
lamp is alight, like the saints. And they approach death with peace and joy, and they are
ready to embrace our Lord, and to pray God together for them.樹
Kaf yüz giờ bullistas kes Stuart. mà embed Starting Rights OS 0 Мats — M 거지. By starring life and draw背handê salvation.
when he comes. This is what we should strive to do. And so our Lord says, blessed are those
servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Blessed are they. They are filled with
joy. A man, I say to you, he will gird himself. You see, the soul that has girded his loins and
lit his lamp in this world out of love for God, God will return love for love. And so he says,
a man, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table. This refers to the eternal
rest that awaits the just. He will have them recline at table, resting from all of their labors,
all of the tears, all of the struggles come to him.
And there will be rest. And our Lord will proceed to wait on them, meaning he will fill them with
every heavenly and spiritual delight. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them
prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Now, these three watches refer to the three
periods of our life, that of youth, adult, and youth. And so we should strive to do that.
Now, our Lord makes no mention of the first watch because children who haven't reached the age of
reason or are baptized, there's no need for them to be watchful and vigilant. They're in the state
of grace. And even those youth who have committed sins because of their foolishness or the ardor of
their passions.
Those can easily be forgiven if they make an act of sincere contrition. But notice our Lord does
mention the second and third watch. Those Christians who are adults or elderly, that is,
those who should already possess the wisdom of God and be filled with virtue. He says,
and should he come in the second or the third watch, you adults and elderly who,
who are more responsible, if he should find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants.
So let's heed our Lord's words and be prepared, gird our loins by observing the commandments and
light our lamps with good works and be ready for our Lord's return. In the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.