Daily Scripture Reflection & Prayer: December 2, 2023

Date: Saturday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture Text: Luke 21:34-36

Jesus said to his disciples: "Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."

Breaking the text open – background and summary:

Today’s gospel reading from the Gospel of Luke shares Jesus’ teaching before the beginning of his paschal mystery (suffering, death, resurrection, ascension). It also appears at the end of Jesus’ extended warnings for his disciples and followers about the need to be vigilant and the coming of the Son of Man (Jesus’ second coming). His message is simple: be vigilant.

Meditating on the text with personal questions:

Do I let the anxieties of daily life distract me from what is truly important – love of the LORD and one another?

Praying:

LORD, Almighty Father, Beloved Son, Most Holy Spirit, as we come to the end of our ordered time and begin our preparations for a new season, for Advent, stir within us your transformative love and allow it to open up the graces with which You shower us so that we might become the ones You created us to be, the ones You call us to be. Grant that we may be vigilant always, aware of your power and presence in our world, in our lives, in us. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.