33B, SUNDAY HOMILY, NOVEMBER 17, 2024, MARK 13:24-32
1. STORY
John, an
architect who worked for a large company for many years, was given a plan for a
special house to be built in a lovely section of the city. He was told to use the best materials and the
best workers and not to worry about the expense. This would be the last house he would work on
before his retirement. As the work
progressed, he thought no one would know if he used inferior material or
inferior workers. He could keep the
money saved for himself. He substituted
inferior material and hired inferior labor and pocketed the difference.
When the house
was completed, the boss had a special celebration for all involved in the
construction. At this celebration, the
boss amazed John by presenting him with the keys to the house saying, “We give
you this house as a token of the high esteem we have for your many years of
faithful service.” John deeply regretted
not doing his best in building the house. He learned the importance of doing the best we
can in this life.
2. GOSPEL, MARK
13:24-32
A. HE WILL GATHER
HIS ELECT
i) Who are the
elect? Through baptism we are the elect,
the chosen ones. Jesus expects us to
serve him to the best of our ability.
ii) Why are we being gathered together? We are being gathered to be led into heaven to receive our eternal reward, eternal life.
B. NO ONE KNOWS
THAT DAY
We do not know
when this will happen. Jesus wants us to
be always ready, always prepared, and always doing our best in life as we await
this great event in our lives.
3. APPLICATION TO
LIFE
A. LIVE AS A
SPECIAL FRIEND OF JESUS
Here are some
suggestions as how to live as elect, the special friends of Jesus.
i) PRAYER
We must pray
daily thanking God for his blessings and asking for his help to do his
will.
ii) KEEP LEARNING
Through bible
reading, we should deepen our understanding of Jesus so as to imitate
him.
iii) HELP OTHERS
Just as Jesus went about helping others, we must also follow his example of helping others.
B. BE ALWAYS
READY
i) There is no
set time or day when this will happen. We are only sure it will happen.
ii) We must be
always ready for this great meeting. We
do this by daily living a life as friends of Jesus.
4. CONCLUSION
John was not
aware that the house he was building was going to be his house. If he knew this, he would have used the best
material and best workers. He would do
the best he could and not cheat his company and, of course, ultimately cheat
himself. Jesus tells us that we are his
elect, and he expects us to live as his faithful followers. He will come to lead us to heaven, our eternal
reward. We have not been told when this
will happen, so we must be ready at all times for the coming of Jesus. We thank Jesus for alerting us to this
important event in our lives. We ask
Jesus to daily give us strength to do our best in serving him on earth. We ask Jesus to keep us alert to his coming.
