The Day of the Son of Man

Today's Reflections

                                                                                 

 

The Day of the Son of Man

Lk 17:26-37

[Jesus said to his disciples,] ²⁶“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; ²⁷they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; ²⁹on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. ³⁰So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. ³²Remember the wife of Lot. ³³Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. ³⁴I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. ³⁵And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.” ³⁷They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”

IN THE DAYS OF THE SON OF MAN. The Gospel continues Jesus’ apocalyptic discourse to the disciples begun yesterday (Lk 17:22). The day of the Son of Man is described as coming suddenly and catastrophically. It will not be this way if people are not too engrossed in earthly preoccupations and are prepared to welcome the day. Jesus offers Noah (Gn 6:5ff) and Lot (Gn 19:15-26) as biblical examples of detachment and sacrifice, of watchfulness and faith.

As the liturgical year draws nearer to its close, the readings are often about the end times—referring both to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and to the end of the world as we know it. The picture may be disturbing and puzzling, but it is not meant to scare us. The message urges us to be always ready.

If we heed the words of Jesus, do the will of the Father, and prepare for the great encounter with the Lord, we can look forward to the day of the Son of Man with great expectation. That is why, after the Lord’s Prayer at Mass, we pray that, by the help of the Lord’s mercy, “we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

“One will be taken, the other left.” Each one will be judged individually.

We cannot discharge our duty to God by proxy.