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One Bread, One Body - Reflection for November 17, 2006

THE END

"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 17:27

Would you have been playing shuffleboard on the Titanic as it sank? Will you be watching a soap opera when the world ends? Will you be buying an insurance policy when Jesus returns?

Many will be doing meaningless things when the end comes. "It will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed" (Lk 17:30). Will you be in touch with the final reality or planning for things that will never exist?

No one knows the day or the hour (Mt 25:13), but God will prepare us if we let Him. "Look out that you yourselves do not lose what you have worked for; you must receive your reward in full" (2 Jn 8). At the very end, many false teachers will cause a mass apostasy (2 Thes 2:3). "Therefore God is sending upon them a perverse spirit which leads them to give credence to falsehood, so that all who have not believed the truth but have delighted in evildoing will be condemned" (2 Thes 2:11-12).

Hold on to the truth; be always ready for His coming. Look "for the coming of the day of God and [try] to hasten it!" (2 Pt 3:12) Lead others to Christ up to the last moment. "Pray constantly for the strength to escape whatever is in prospect, and to stand secure before the Son of Man" (Lk 21:36).

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

PRAYER: Jesus, may I get ready before this day is over.
PROMISE: "Anyone who is so 'progressive' that he does not remain rooted in the teaching of Christ does not possess God, while anyone who remains rooted in the teaching possesses both the Father and the Son." –2 Jn 9
PRAISE: St. Elizabeth was a widow with three children. She died at age twenty-four after pouring herself out in service to the poor.

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Acknowledgement

Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:

· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College