11th Week of Pentecost

Acts 24:27-25:12
Two years passed and Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. Wishing to ingratiate himself with the Jews, Felix left Paul in prison. Three days after his arrival in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem where the chief priests and Jewish leaders presented him their formal charges against Paul. They asked him as a favor to have him sent to Jerusalem, for they were plotting to kill him along the way. Festus replied that Paul was being held in custody in Caesarea and that he himself would be returning there shortly. He said, “Let your authorities come down with me, and if this man has done something improper, let them accuse him.” After spending no more than eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the following day took his seat on the tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought in. When he appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him and brought many serious charges against him, which they were unable to prove. In defending himself Paul said, “I have committed no crime either against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.” Then Festus, wishing to ingratiate himself with the Jews, said to Paul in reply, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there stand trial before me on these charges?” Paul answered, “I am standing before the tribunal of Caesar; this is where I should be tried. I have committed no crime against the Jews, as you very well know. If I have committed a crime or done anything deserving death, I do not seek to escape the death penalty; but if there is no substance to the charges they are bringing against me, then no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.” Then Festus, after conferring with his council, replied, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go.”

Luke 12:35-40
“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. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

For what must we be prepared? We must be prepared for judgement by living a life of love and mercy, so that we ourselves are treated with mercy and love. Whether we die first or the Lord returns first, we must be ready to give the Lord an account of our lives. We may have to say, “Lord, you know I have sinned greatly, but I have chosen your love and mercy, I have forgiven others, I have sought your sacramental mysteries, and I rely on your mercy.” This vigilance might not look like perfection to the world, but God will look and see His Son, who died for us. Let us seek to live lives of mercy and love, so that we are ready when the Lord comes.

Lord, have mercy on us and save us.
O Jesus,
you perfect our good works and grant us your assistance at
all times.
You are the hope we find in our weakness
and the refuge we seek in our distress.
From the heights of your infinite holiness and majesty.
Hear our prayers and our petitions,
and open to us the treasures of your mercy.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to you be glory forever.
Amen.