Eleven Years

 

   
19th Sunday In Ordinary Time
7 August 2016

First reading	Wisdom 18:6-9 ©

That night had been foretold to our ancestors, so that,

once they saw what kind of oaths they had put their trust in,

they would joyfully take courage.

This was the expectation of your people,

the saving of the virtuous and the ruin of their enemies;

for by the same act with which you took vengeance on our foes

you made us glorious by calling us to you.

The devout children of worthy men offered sacrifice in secret

and this divine pact they struck with one accord:

that the saints would share the same blessings and dangers alike;

and forthwith they had begun to chant the hymns of the fathers.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 32:1,12,18-20,22 ©

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as his own.

Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just;

  for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.

They are happy, whose God is the Lord,

  the people he has chosen as his own.

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as his own.

The Lord looks on those who revere him,

  on those who hope in his love,

to rescue their souls from death,

  to keep them alive in famine.

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as his own.

Our soul is waiting for the Lord.

  The Lord is our help and our shield.

May your love be upon us, O Lord,

  as we place all our hope in you.

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as his own

 

Second reading                                                                         Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19

Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. It was for faith that our ancestors were commended.

  It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going. By faith he arrived, as a foreigner, in the Promised Land, and lived there as if in a strange country, with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. They lived there in tents while he looked forward to a city founded, designed and built by God.

 

 It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise would be faithful to it. Because of this, there came from one man, and one who was already as good as dead himself, more descendants than could be counted, as many as the stars of heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore.

 

  All these died in faith, before receiving any of the things that had been promised, but they saw them in the far distance and welcomed them, recognising that they were only strangers and nomads on earth. People who use such terms about themselves make it quite plain that they are in search of their real homeland. They can hardly have meant the country they came from, since they had the opportunity to go back to it; but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, since he has founded the city for them.

  It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though the promises had been made to him and he had been told: It is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking, he was given back Isaac from the dead.

 

Alleluia, alleluia!

Stay awake and stand ready,

because you do not know the hour

when the Son of Man is coming.

Alleluia!

Gospel                                                                                                        Luke 12:35-40

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit. Be like men waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those servants if he finds them ready. You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

 

 

Reflection:

 

by Gary Tulabut

 

If one of my former employers, Intel, did not close its operations in the Philippines, this would have been my 20^th year with the company. But some good things must come to an end.

Intel was then one of the most admired companies not only in the Philippines but in the world. The company would always be part of Forbes or Fortune in their list of great companies to work for, just like how Facebook, Google, and Apple are nowadays.

I stayed at Intel for eleven years and during those days even now that I am not with the company anymore, I would say that it is really one of the best (if not the best) employers in the Philippines.

And because of my contentment, I did not plan to go anywhere else. I did not apply for any work. I did not update my resume. And I did not bother to have any interviews outside.

Then came retrenchment in 2008 and 2009.

Even with a handsome separation package and some business plans ahead, I still needed a steady cashflow. Therefore, I sent out resumes and letters of application; updated my JobStreet account; and soon enough, I got my first invitation for an interview.

From which company?

Apple.

But after eleven years of no interviews, not knowing anything about job hunting, guess what happened on my first interview via phone call from Singapore.

Well, I did not get a second call.

I still had other interviews and I was eventually hired by another tech giant, Texas Instruments.

But that Apple gig would have been something really big.

But I was not prepared. I did not prepare… For 11 years.

Today in the Gospel, Jesus is telling us to always be prepared. Because when we fail that interview (and of course, background investigation) by St. Peter, there would be no second chance.

In my management classes, I always tell my students that no matter how satisfied they will be with their would-be employers after graduation, they must always prepare themselves, upgrade themselves through continuous education. I even encourage them to test the waters of job hunting from time to time even if they are not really looking for a job.  So that when opportunities come, they are always on the right position to grab them.

 Prayer 

THANK You, Father, for reminding us to be always on the watch so that when Your Son returns to take us back to You, we will not be left behind. Amen.