31ST SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME
"IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU'RE HEADING ...
YOU MIGHT GET LOST ALONG THE WAY"
INTRODUCTION
Road trips ... family trips ... getting lost ... reading maps
CONNECT INTRODUCTION TO DAILY LIFE
If you don't know where you're heading, there's no guarantee you'll get anywhere ... and you might even get lost along the way.
The same is true in life: If you don't know where you're heading, there's no guarantee you'll get anywhere ... and you might even get lost along the way.
CORE MESSAGE
We're supposed to live life on earth with Heaven as our inevitable destination.
WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES TELL US ABOUT THIS?
The readings at Mass during the month of November will eventually shift, just as the Liturgical Year shifts. December is just around the corner, and with it Advent is closer than we think. Advent marks the beginning of a new Liturgical Year. Therefore, November leads us to the close of our current Season of Ordinary Time. Thus, as the Liturgical Season comes to and end, the Church will begin to draw our attention to our end ... to the End Times.
There are two ways to describe the word "end". If I start my trip at 3 PM in Thibodaux and my trip ends at 5 PM in Abbeville, what's the "end" of my trip: 5 PM or Abbeville? How do we define the word "end" ... by time or destination?
It's important to live our lives ... now ... with the "end" in mind.
UNPACKING THE CORE MESSAGE
1. It's too easy for us to live as if our lives were for "this world" only.
2. Many of us are afraid of death.
3. Pregnancy without birth is odd ... pregnancy is designed to lead to birth. Likewise, life without death is odd ... our life on earth is designed to lead us to death ... and therein to Heaven.
4. If you don't know where you're heading, you'll get lost along the way. Life is really not supposed to feel this hard.
5. Do you know where you're heading? Is you life, and all that you do, getting you ready for the end, or the End.
CONCLUSION
Recorded Sunday, November 3, 2013 at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in Thibodaux, Louisiana. © Fr. Mark Toups, 2013
