A Homily for Friday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time
Friday, November 14, 2025
Prince of Peace Catholic Church – 8:00 Mass
Wisdom 13:1-9; Psalm 19:2-3, 4-5ab; Luke 17:26-37
Audio Recording
When I look up at the night sky here in Florida, I’m always struck by the vastness of it all. Today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom tells us that people who observe the greatness and beauty of created things should also be able to recognize their Creator. Yet somehow, so many miss this obvious conclusion. They get so caught up in the beauty of creation that they mistake it for the ultimate reality, rather than seeing it as a signpost pointing to God.
Today’s Gospel takes this same warning and brings it even closer to home. Jesus warns us that we can be so absorbed in our daily routines—the eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building—that we’re completely unprepared when our time comes. Like those who admire creation without seeing the Creator, we can be so consumed with the ordinary we can become blind to what really matters.
Jesus is giving us a wake-up call. He tells us that He will return unexpectedly, bringing the Final Judgment. But even more immediate — our own lives could end any day, perhaps even today. Are we ready to stand before the judgment seat of Christ?
Some of us may have a “tomorrow” mentality. We give in to temptation today, thinking we’ll work on it tomorrow. “I’ll start being more forgiving next week.” “I’ll work on my prayer life after things settle down.” “I’ll work on eliminating that bad habit tomorrow.” But what if there is no tomorrow?
Jesus tells in today’s gospel passage that when the end of this world comes there will be two people doing the same thing and one will be taken while the other is left behind. Rather than prophesying the so-called “rapture” that many of our Protestant brothers and sisters believe this means, what Jesus is saying is that it is not always apparent to us where someone stands in their relationship with him.
He could have said, “two people were sitting together at Mass, doing the same thing, saying the same prayers, yet one will be spared from judgment and the other will experience judgment.” He’s saying that only God knows our hearts.
We can’t know a person’s heart simply by the actions they perform. We are again being taught that we should not judge others as being righteous or sinful … this is God’s work, not ours. Our job is to get our own house in order and reach out to others in love, TODAY, not tomorrow.
And here’s the beautiful truth: when we choose grace, mercy, love, self-sacrifice, and forgiveness right now, we’re not just preparing for some distant judgment day — we experience the grace of salvation in this very moment. Jesus is always coming to us, inviting us to serve Him. Every moment is an opportunity to meet Him, to choose Him, to lose our life for His sake and find it transformed by His presence.
When we stay spiritually alert, we’re not living in fear of judgment — we’re living in the freedom of His grace. We’re ready to meet Him face to face because we’re already walking with Him, already experiencing His saving power in each moment. Experiencing His beautiful creation and His creatures through the eyes of faith, which leads us into a deeper recognition of God’s presence in our lives.
So reflect today: have we forgiven those who have hurt us? Or, looking at the other side of that coin, have we asked for forgiveness from those we have hurt? Are we serving rather than being served? Are we praying each day for God to deliver us from sinful habits and uncaring attitudes so that we’ll be ready to meet Him with a clear conscience when He comes for us?
If we live for Christ now, each and every day, we’ll surely be ready to meet Him when He comes. If we are honest with Him about our failings and ask for His grace to love as He loves, then we will know fully the meaning of today’s psalm when we come face to face with him at the conclusion of our earthly journey: “The heavens proclaim the glory of God!”
God bless you.