13-11-2026, Friday of Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time
2 Jn 4-9; Ps 119: 1,2,10-11,17-18; Lk 17: 26-37
As we draw near to the end of the liturgical year, the Church places before us Gospel passages that pierce through the comfortable routines of our daily lives. The passage today directs our gaze toward the reality of the Lord’s return and the inescapable accountability of our human lives. Christ warns that His revelation will cut through our mundane routines of sleeping, working, and grinding meal will be instantly interrupted, “”one will be taken and the other left.”
Lot’s wife looked back, showing a heart still attached to the life she was leaving. The angels gave a clear instruction: escape and don’t look back. Her action reminds us that hearing God’s instruction is different from acting on it. Faith involves responding to what God says. Looking back can represent longing for, returning to, or being preoccupied with an old way of life. Jesus later uses Lot’s wife as a warning: “Remember Lot’s wife.”. The lesson is to remain faithful to God rather than allowing the past to pull us away from the path ahead.
WISDOM TO LIVE
Like the people of Noah’s day, we can easily become consumed by the sheer velocity of modern living—our careers, digital screens, mortgages, and anxieties. There is nothing inherently evil about planting, building, or buying; the danger lies when these things capture our ultimate allegiance. Jesus gives us a stark spiritual wake-up call: Do not look back. When trials come, or when God invites us to deeper conversion, we cannot afford the lingering, nostalgic glance of Lot’s wife, whose heart remained anchored in a city under judgment. When God calls us forward, let’s trust Him, leave the old life behind, and not allow our attachment to the past to turn us back. Let us ask for the grace to stay spiritually awake, so that when the Lord calls us to Himself, we are found with our faces turned forward, ready to be gathered into His eternal embrace.
WISDOM FROM THE TREASURY OF THE CHURCH
“The coming of the Savior will not be obscure or hidden, but like lightning that flashes from the east to the west, suddenly revealing itself to the whole world, leaving no room for doubt.” – Saint Cyril of Alexandria (Commentary on Luke)
“Man’s life is laid down for him; therefore he should not cling to temporal things as if they were permanent, but should always be prepared for the sudden visitation of his Maker.” – Saint Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae)
WISDOM FROM THE CARMEL
“Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life, which is short; that there is only one glory, which is eternal. If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.” – Saint Teresa of Ávila (The Book of the Foundations)
Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbCwzvh3QxS6zJTriv0E