So be vigilant….And be ready!……The invisible will become visible

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Mark in the gospel….….Mark today gives an account of the last days….."And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.”…….Jesus was born poor to a humble family…He lived and worked with his hands and for three years as scripture tells us….“Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest.”……Basically, Jesus was “invisible” to the world around him…..Think about even today, the Blessed Sacrament exposed on the altar, Jesus is there fully present, so simple, so humble yet “Invisible” to far too many…….Why do I say all this?…When Christ returns, that will not be the case…Jesus is the Lion of Judah and when he returns again as he has promised….He will come in “great power and glory”……And when that happens the world will be turned upside down!…One either believes this or one does not….But make no mistake, Jesus was no “hippie”….."In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”…Are we prepared to meet the King upon his return?………. When the invisible will become visible

“Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to stand before the Son of Man.”

I have often mediated upon how the Holy Family lived their lives “invisible” to the world around them…How people did not realize who Jesus was and even when he spoke, how they “missed it”….Even today, Jesus is fully present in the Blessed Sacrament and the world ignores him……I have had the great privilege to see with my own eyes how the poor of this world do not ignore Christ…Whether in the housing projects of New York City…A shantytown in Haiti…..A soup kitchen in Montreal….or a village in India….While the rest of the world “misses it”…Many of these people do not…They have “eyes to see”….Their lives are geared towards Christ and when he returns, they will be ready……Allow me to tell you about one of “those people”…Bleecker Street Pizza in Lower Manhattan is one of the best places to get pizza in all of New York City…One of the cooks there, his name is Roland is from Albania….Roland has AIDS…I got to know him when I served with Mother Teresa’s sisters actively before I got married in Lower Manhattan…Roland works very hard and whenever he could on Saturdays, he would come by the sisters convent to pray before the Blessed Sacrament…..He is a joyful and generous man always with a smile on his face…..The world around Roland “passes him by” - Like he is invisible….To Christ however, he is “seen”…Do we have eyes to see?…..Jesus is fully present in the Blessed Sacrament and Jesus is always fully present in the poor too…If you want an authentic encounter with Christ, serve him in the poor….How many people do not believe in God only and until they "roll up their sleeves" and serve Christ in the poor….Jesus tells us very clearly…....”What you do to the least - You do to ME”…….If you do not believe in Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, I suggest you first look for him in the poor…"Writing a check" is too easy, go and serve them with your own two hands, get to know the poor, and in time you will find your heart will expand and your eyes will open…Then that “little piece of bread” consecrated by the hands of a priest will take on a different appearance to you….The invisible will become visible

“You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever”

St Mark reminds us today in the Gospel that Jesus will return again…But in order to “be ready” for him, we must have “eyes to see”…My friend Roland who makes pizza in New York City has “eyes to see”…To the many people who come into his pizza shop, he is “invisible” a “no-body” but to Christ, he is a child of God, “a somebody”………Jesus, Mary and Joseph were once too “invisible” to the society in which they lived…They were “no-bodies” too…However history tells us otherwise….Scripture too tells us…”He will gather his elect from the four winds”….Yes, that includes a pizza maker from Bleecker Street in Lower Manhattan…Where the “invisible” have eyes to see…….So be vigilant….And be ready!……The invisible will become visible