Posted by The WORD in Other Words by Fr Sebio Manangbao SVD (Philippines) for Tuesday 29th Week in Ordinary Time
The thought of death is something that we avoid and never want to speak about. But death is inevitable. No one is exempted; whoever we are, it will eventually come to us.
In today’s gospel, Jesus is calling us to prepare for the unannounced coming of the Lord in our lives. To many of us, the coming of our Lord in death is a sad reality. But do we need to be sad? If we are given by our doctor a month to live, of course we are sad. But after a while the sadness should be replaced by our confidence and faith in God. For some who have long prepared for this by their obedience and closeness to Jesus, death is even welcome news. They are not afraid to die and meet up close to the Lord, the author of our lives.
It’s always imperative that we take seriously Jesus’ advice to the disciples: to always be prepared for the coming of the Lord for we don’t know when it will be.
Since coming here to Sabangan, Mt. Province, where I am currently the Parish Priest, I have officiated a good number of wake and funeral masses of the young and the old people in the area. The occasions brought in memories of the times of my near death experiences in Kenya and in Tanzania where I was involved in vehicular accidents that almost killed me.
God is not finished with me yet (Philippians 1,6). This is my continuing reflection of the life giving presence of God in my life.
– Fr. Sebio Manangbao, SVD (Parish Priest, St. Joseph Husband of Mary Parish Sabangan, Mt. Province)
