A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 24:42-51

Jesus said to his disciples: "Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

"Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is long delayed.' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, the servant's master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."

The Gospel of the Lord Praise be to you Lord, Jesus Christ.

REFLECTION: "For you do not know on which day your Lord will come."

Last year Mr Arthur Lee became a part of my life. He was one of the Hurricane Harvey refugees that sought shelter at Sacred Heart Catholic Church Life Center in Richmond Texas. He, at first, caught my eye because he was alone, without family, and only came for the meals and would go home. Home was across the street from the Richmond fire department. He lived in one of the dilapidated homes that did not get flooded.

We became friends, exchanged phone numbers and eventually Mr Arthur Lee would call me almost on a daily basis, we had lunch at Buena Vista Mexican restaurant and we exchanged Christmas presents. A nicer stranger I had not met. He never asked for himself but always asked for others--"Can you help with my church's Christmas toys drive, do you think you can help this family with a new air conditioner?"--always looking out for his neighbors and always keeping busy with his life.

He had metastatic lung cancer and went in and out of the hospital many times. His final call to me was that he was in a nursing home, but did not know why or where and he would get back to me the next day. Never heard from him again, and come to find out he passed away last month. I did not have the privilege of going to his funeral and I did not get to know this "stranger become friend" as well as I should have.

Inspite of his illness, he always looked out for others. He always called to see if I was okay. He always talked about God and His will and he accepted all that happened with a shrug and a smile. "People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1Samuel 16:7)

I will miss my good friend, Arthur Lee, who never "slept on the job". He stayed awake for the Lord. Rest in Peace, God bless you.

Don't judge a person by.....

…. the clothes he wears; God made the person, the tailor made the clothes.

…..his family relations; Cain belonged to a good family.

…..the company he keeps; Jesus can still transform lives by His Presence.

…..his speech; A parrot can talk, and the tongue is only an instrument of the mind.

…..his failures in life; many are too honest to succeed.

(Tim Tiley , Ltd, card printed in England..)

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