Be prepared! It is always good to be prepared for what you know is coming. Some things require more preparation than others . I know
a friend of mine who does all her Christmas shopping in the summer, I think she is done by now (I wonder what I’m getting?). Yet oth-
ers wait until the day before Christmas to shop. I personally am somewhere in between. Yet I am sure all of us have had tho se things
come up that delay our preparations. Perhaps in gift giving, what we want is out of stock or late in delivery. Depending on how much
time we have, these delays can be dealt with, or we need to change our plans (when there is no time for delay). Some handle change and
delay better than others.

In our Gospel this weekend we hear about the ten virgins, five foolish and five wise. The wise are prepared for any possible delay of the
Bridegroom. The other five would have been fine if there was no delay. But there was, and now they are searching for help. We should
be more than prepared in our lives, we should be prepared for possible delays that may come up. If we are ready for them, it is not a
problem. So, what is the message of this parable that Jesus is telling to His disciples? One could understand His message t o say, “Be
ready each day for my return, but be prepared if it is not today.”

Having faith and believing that Jesus is coming back or that we will see Him in his Kingdom, should always be alive in our he arts. How-
ever, we should not start tying it to a date and time. I remember over the years, every now and then some sort of prophecy w ould come
out saying the end of the world will be on… As you may have guessed, the world is still here (at least it was at this writing). We should
not get sucked into a date and time in the future and think we have time to prepare. We should focus every single day on bei ng ready
and prepared to see the Lord and be Judged. All it takes is one sudden death of a friend to remind us that tomorrow is promised to no
one. What we have is today.

In all reality, for most of us, we have good days and bad days of trying to do this. Hopefully more good days. However, if we start to put
our faith on the back burner or lower on our list of priorities, we will likely find that we start to stop thinking about bei ng ready. This
can become dangerous and we may find our fire going out without any more oil on hand.

There are so many things in our world that we should be praying for, sometimes I have a hard time knowing where to begin. So me re-
cent deaths in the parish, pray for comfort for the families. The ongoing wars in Israel and Ukraine, pray for peace. Couples having diffi-
culty, pray for the building up of their marriage. Etc. etc. etc.

“Lord, Jesus Christ, I ask your Blessing on the parish of St Luke. That we may know your Love, that we may share that love with those
around us. Lord, keep us safe from all harm and evil, give us strength in times of hardship. May we daily work to be ready for your com-
ing and be prepared if there is a delay. Lord, I ask you to bless me as Pastor, that I may shepherd with the love of your he art. That I may
die to self to be more like Christ. May you lead me wherever I go.”

Blessings,
Fr. Backer