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Friday, November 15, 2002

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St. Albert the Great


2 John 4-9
Psalm 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17-18
Luke 17:26-37

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future now

"As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They ate and drank, they took husbands and wives, right up to the day Noah entered the ark — and when the flood came, it destroyed them all." —Luke 17:26-27

At the end of the world, many people will not be prepared. This has also been the case with Noah's flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and other catastrophes. Thus, to be prepared for the future, we must be prepared in the present for anything.

Are you ready for the end of the world and Jesus' final coming now? Are you ready to die now? Are you ready to be martyred for Jesus now? If we're not ready to die now, then we're not ready to live the abundant life in Christ.

To be ready for anything now, we must be living in and for Jesus alone. Jesus is our only Hope, and the only Hope we need. Jesus is the Lord of the past, the present, and the future. Jesus is the only name "in the whole world given to men by which we are to be saved" (Acts 4:12). Without Jesus, we can do nothing (Jn 15:5). In Jesus, nothing is impossible (Lk 1:37). Jesus is God, Who "is Love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him" (1 Jn 4:16). "There is no condemnation now for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rm 8:1). When Jesus is our Life (see Jn 14:6; 11:25), we have eternal life. In Jesus, we will escape the wrath to come (1 Thes 1:10), for the Lord has plans for our welfare, not for woe — plans to give us a future full of hope (Jer 29:11). Give your life totally to Jesus now. Then look forward in joy to the future.

Prayer:  Father, on this my patronal feast day, make me and all who read this holy in every aspect of our conduct (1 Pt 1:15).

Promise:  "Look out that you yourselves do not lose what you have worked for; you must receive your reward in full." —2 Jn 8

Praise:  Possibly St. Albert's greatest work was to help in the discipleship of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Richard L. Klug, April 10, 2002


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, April 18, 2002