What part of my past is preventing me from moving forward?

 
Reading: Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. Luke 17:33.
 
Good morning, happy Friday, and many blessings my dear family.
 
In today’s Gospel (Luke 17:26-37) we are told that the coming of the Son of Man cannot be predicted. We are challenged as we live out our daily lives to focus our attention on our relationship with God rather than on the things of the earth as “those who lose their life will keep it”
 
The stories of Noah and the flood, of Lot and the destruction of Sodom, were part of the folk memory of Israel. Jesus wants his listeners to notice how life was going on normally, people engaging in their everyday activities, when the disaster struck. No warning, no premonition, no time to plan an escape! So too the Son of Man will come suddenly and unexpectedly.
 
The only way to be prepared is to live a good life, one based on love. Then the coming of the Son of Man will not be a disaster but our final liberation. How do I feel about Jesus’ words? What things give me security? I spend some time in silence and listen to what Jesus might want to say to me remembering that I am loved and cherished by God.
 
Our times certainly sound very much like Noah’s, where everyone seems so distracted, unable to concentrate on what is really important. But Jesus warns us that the time for decision can catch us unawares, and that it cannot be postponed indefinitely. The Gospel insists, with a real sense of urgency, on the need to take our life seriously. I pray for a sense of discernment to have clear priorities and not let myself be distracted.
 
The great Jewish philosopher Martin Buber said, ‘The only thing that can become fate for a person is belief in fate; for this suppresses the movement of turning…to be freed from belief that there is no freedom is indeed to be free.’
 
‘One will be taken, and another will be left’: not capriciously, for it is a question of living responsibly. I pray for myself and those close to me, especially those whose life choices I worry about. ‘But Lot’s wife, who was behind him looked back, and she became a pillar of salt’. Lot’s wife was immobilized because she could not leave the past behind her. What part of my past is preventing me from moving forward?
 
Blessings,
 
Fr. Luis+