Spiritual Reflection
Nov. 8, 2026~ Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Year A (pdf)
“Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Mt 25:13
“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks” (Lk 12:35-36). How can we interpret this call to vigilance and readiness for the Lord’s coming? Is it only an appeal to be ready for our meeting with the Lord at the moment of our death?
The Lord wants you to await meeting with Him all the time – in every moment. After all, He is always standing at your door and knocking. He wants to meet with you during the day and during the night, in joy and in sorrow, in extraordinary events and in the monotonous rhythm of daily life.
He is present in you, around you, and through everything that He created. He is knocking on your door through great and small events. He is present in His will, which He desires to reveal to you.
Are you the vigilant servant who hears the Lord’s knocking? Do you run to the door to open it for Him?
The servant who is vigilant not only has girded loins in order to be ready to fulfill the Lord’s indications, but also a lighted torch, which is the Light of Truth. Openness to God means, above all, remaining in truth.
To remain in truth means to attribute every supernatural good in your life to God. It means to give up all delusions that this goodness is yours,
S.C. Biela, Behold I Stand at the Door and Knock, pp. 112-113
It would be good if you could live with the awareness that your last trial may arrive at any time. It is necessary to be vigilant and prepared, like the wise virgins who kept oil reserves for their lamps (cf. Mt 25:1-13).
Your ‘oil’ should be the childlike trust in God. From where does one get it? That kind of trust does not have to spring from positive feelings, because it is difficult to have them when one feels his lowest. Neither does it have to arise from the sphere of rational premises – when you discover the truth of your misery, reason can tell you that you cannot count on anything and you can expect nothing. However, without proof from feelings, from experience, and from logic, your heart should be filled with profound trust: “I shall get up and go to my father” (Lk 15:18).
Thanks to this kind of trust up to the point of folly and the faith that goes with it, God can bestow on you the immensity of His graces.
What will be the best robe or sandals in your case? What kind of ring will be put on your finger? This will remain a mystery. But, it will be evident for you as the worst of all men that you merit nothing. And so, whatever you will receive will be for you like the best robe, the most beautiful sandals, and the most valuable ring.
S.C. Biela, In the Arms of Mary, pp 106-107
References from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
2090 When God reveals Himself and calls him, man cannot fully respond to the divine love by his own powers. He must hope that God will give him the capacity to love Him in return and to act in conformity with the commandments of charity. Hope is the confident expectation of divine blessing and the beatific vision of God; it is also the fear of offending God's love and of incurring punishment.
2091 The first commandment is also concerned with sins against hope, namely, despair and presumption: By despair, man ceases to hope for his personal salvation from God, for help in attaining it or for the forgiveness of his sins. Despair is contrary to God's goodness, to his justice – for the Lord is faithful to his promises – and to his mercy.
2092 There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he presumes upon God's almighty power or his mercy (hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit).
Questions for Reflection
How have I been preparing myself for my meeting with Christ? How can these present times of unrest and insecurity give me a renewed opportunity?
What is God revealing to me in what I experience? How can I respond?
Mary declared herself the handmaid of the Lord. In her life, what can I use as an example in order to be ready for God’s coming? What can I ask her?
Prayer after Sharing
Thank you, God, for allowing me to see the truth about my weaknesses and how it calls upon the abyss of your merciful Love.
