Vultures

St. Ireneus says, “The glory of God is man fully alive.”Our lives on earth are not accidents rather willed and protected by God. All our lives have purpose and only we and on other can fulfill the things that we do and say. We must have read Stephen Covey’s book on 7 habits of effective people. In the recent book, ‘the 8th habit’ he argues that being effective as individuals and organizations is no longer optional in today’s highly competitive world – it is simply the price of entry to the playing field. But surviving, thriving, innovating, excelling, and leading in this new reality will require us to build on and reach beyond effectiveness. He calls for a transition of the world from effectiveness to greatness.

The two incidents mentioned in today’s gospel tells us important lesson: The destruction of evil and restoration of the good. In Noah as well as in Lot’s stories tell us that God is the author of life and he has the total power over human life. Though a great amount of freedom is given to man to respond to God’s love, man has only one way of experiencing that life: to stay alive, to stay alive fully.

Our goal as human beings is that we preserve not our lives but preserve the holiness and greatness in us; in other words, we preserve God in us so that we would never be lost. Holiness and greatness require a lot of efforts and sacrifices to the point of losing ourselves and gaining God. Mother Teresa says, “Few of us can do great things, but all of us can do small things with great love.”

The conclusion of the gospel is very interesting. The two people in bed and two people grinding meal together suggest that God’s will be done throughout the day and throughout the night, that is, throughout the whole world. We cannot remain as dead bodies when it comes to fulfilling God’s will; rather we are going to be active participants in fulfilling what God wants of us. Vultures cannot gather if we are fully human and fully alive. Can you name a few vultures that are getting closer to you? Amen