Living Ready for What Comes Next
Catholic Homily for November 14, 2025
Friday of the Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 17:26–37
Jesus paints a picture of ordinary life. People eating and drinking. Buying and selling. Planting crops and building houses. Everything seems normal and routine. Then suddenly, the day comes – and everything changes.
Jesus reminds us of the time of Noah, when people were living their regular lives, completely caught off guard when the flood arrived. He also mentions the days of Lot in the city of Sodom, where people were going about their business when fire suddenly destroyed everything.
The point isn’t that eating, drinking, buying, and building are bad things. Ordinary life itself is not the problem. The problem is forgetting God while we live our ordinary lives. When our hearts fall asleep and we stop paying attention to what really matters, then surprises become disasters.
The Danger of Looking Back
Jesus says something mysterious: “Remember Lot’s wife.” In the Bible story, when God told Lot’s family to escape the burning city, He gave them one instruction – don’t look back. But Lot’s wife couldn’t resist. She turned around to look at everything she was leaving behind, and she froze in place, turned into salt.
Her attachment to her old life literally stopped her from moving forward. She knew she should go, but her heart was still connected to what she was leaving behind. Her looking back was more than just a glance – it showed where her real loyalty was.
Jesus is warning us about the same thing. We can say we’re following God, but if our hearts keep looking back at the things we’re supposed to leave behind – money, status, grudges, comfort, control – we’ll get stuck. The Lord calls us forward, but we have to be willing to let go of what’s behind us.
The Paradox of Holding On and Letting Go
Jesus teaches something that seems backwards: “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it; whoever loses it will keep it.”
This doesn’t mean we should hurt ourselves or be careless with our lives. It means that when we cling desperately to our own comfort, safety, and control, we actually lose the life worth living. Our tight grip closes our hands, and we can’t receive what God wants to give us.
But when we surrender – when we let go of our need to control everything and trust God with our lives – we open our hands to receive salvation. We find freedom, peace, and genuine life.
It’s the difference between a closed fist and an open hand. A closed fist might protect something, but it can’t receive anything. An open hand can’t hold onto much, but it can receive whatever God wants to give.
Living in Two Different Directions
Jesus says something shocking: “Two will be together; one will be taken, the other left.” He’s talking about people sleeping in the same bed, or working in the same field. The difference isn’t their location – they’re in the same place. The difference is the direction their hearts are facing.
One person is facing toward Christ, growing in faith, and ready for whatever comes. The other person is facing away, living for themselves, and unprepared. Same situation, completely different outcomes – all because of which way their heart is pointed.
This teaches us something important: what matters most isn’t your circumstances, but your spiritual direction. You could be surrounded by other believers or completely alone. You could be healthy or sick, wealthy or poor, successful or struggling. None of that determines whether you’re ready. What matters is whether your heart is set on Christ.
Three Ways to Live Ready Today
Release – Let go of one attachment that keeps you looking back. Think about what you’re clinging to – maybe it’s resentment about how someone treated you, maybe it’s anxiety about money, maybe it’s the desire to be noticed and praised, or maybe it’s regret about past mistakes. Identify one thing you’ve been holding onto that’s keeping you from moving forward with God. Then deliberately let it go. You might write it down and then burn it, or simply say aloud: “I’m letting this go and trusting God.” Make it real and concrete.
Refocus – Pray a brief act of surrender before each main task: “Jesus, I trust You.” Before you start work, before an important conversation, before a difficult decision, pause for just a few seconds and remind yourself that you’re not in control – God is. This simple practice keeps your heart pointed toward Christ throughout your day instead of getting lost in worry or self-concern.
Respond – Do one work of mercy now, not later. Don’t put it off. Love is the best preparation for whatever comes. If you’ve been meaning to call someone who’s lonely, call them today. If you know someone who needs help, help them now. If you’ve been thinking about forgiving someone, forgive them today. These small acts of love keep your heart awake and ready.
Ready in the Waiting
The day will come – we don’t know when, but we know it will. The question is: what will it find us doing? Will it find us asleep, caught off guard, unprepared? Or will it find us faithful?
Jesus isn’t asking us to stop living our ordinary lives or to become obsessed with the future. He’s asking us to live our ordinary lives with our hearts awake and our eyes on Him. He wants us to eat and drink and work and build – but to do these things with God in mind.
Let the day find us faithful in small things. Not waiting for some big dramatic moment to prove our faith, but showing our loyalty to God through ordinary acts of faithfulness – kindness to a difficult person, honesty in small matters, patience with someone who annoys us, mercy toward someone who hurt us.
Let us keep leaning forward toward the Kingdom of God, not backward toward what we’re leaving behind. Let us travel light in the soul, carrying only what matters: faith, hope, and love. And let us already be walking with the Lord, so that whenever that day comes, we’ll simply continue the walk we’ve already begun.
Let us Pray,
Lord Jesus, help us live with our hearts awake and our eyes on You. Keep us from getting so caught up in ordinary life that we forget You. Help us let go of attachments that pull us backward and keep us from following You fully. Give us the courage to surrender our need to control everything and to trust You with our lives. When the day comes, let it find us faithful, ready, and already walking with You. Amen.
❤️ Thank You dear friend, hope this reflections touched you. 🙏 Please do not forget to share with your loved ones this november 14 homily.
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