A homily on Luke 17:26-37 : Flood of Grace (14-11-25)

A heartfelt reflection on Luke 17:26-37 “Stay awake—the flood of grace comes quietly to hearts that are ready.”  (14-11-25)

Praise be to Jesus Christ 

There was once a small town nestled beside a great river. Every year, the villagers held a festival to celebrate the river’s calmness and beauty. One year, an old prophet passing through the town warned them, “A great flood will come. Prepare yourselves!” But the people laughed and said, “Look around you! The sky is clear, the river is calm. We have time.” They went on celebrating, eating, drinking, and dancing. But within days, heavy rain began to fall, and by the time they realized the truth, it was too late. Only a few who had listened and moved to higher ground were saved.

This simple story mirrors Jesus’ warning in today’s Gospel. He says, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26–27)

Jesus is not condemning ordinary life—eating, drinking, working, celebrating—but calling us to a deeper awareness of how easily we can live without reference to God. The danger is not in living, but in living carelessly—without a listening heart. The people in Noah’s time were not destroyed because they were evil, but because they were indifferent. They lived as though God’s word did not matter.

St. Augustine beautifully said, “God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.” The people of Noah’s time had their hands full—with pleasure, with comfort, with distraction. So often, we too live with crowded hearts, unable to hear or receive what God wants to give. When Jesus mentions Lot’s wife, He reminds us that spiritual attachment to the past can destroy us. She looked back, not merely with her eyes, but with her heart—longing for the world she had left behind. Likewise, when we cling to comfort, sin, resentment, or possessions, we risk turning away from the God who leads us toward new life.

The Gospel urges us to live in a constant state of readiness—not in fear, but in faith. Readiness is not about predicting the end, but about living each day as a gift entrusted to us by God. It is about being awake to His presence, aware that every choice we make either builds or breaks the Kingdom within us.

St. Francis of Assisi once said, “Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” This is how Noah lived—he simply obeyed God’s word, building the ark step by step, even when others mocked him. Faithfulness in small things leads to salvation in great things.

For consecrated people, this Gospel is a reminder that our vocation is to be “watchmen of the dawn”—to live in such a way that our lives constantly point to the coming of the Lord. Every prayer, every act of love, every hidden sacrifice builds an ark of hope in a world drowning in distraction. As St. Teresa of Calcutta said, “We are not called to be successful, but to be faithful.” For families, this passage invites reflection on what fills our homes. Is there space for God amid our busyness? Do we pray together, forgive quickly, and show love before it’s too late? The flood in Noah’s time came suddenly, but grace comes quietly each day—through small choices to live in peace and holiness.

Let us live, then, not as if time is endless, but as if every moment is eternal. For in every act of love, every prayer, every small surrender, the Kingdom is coming—and Christ is already among us.

Oh Jesus! Bless us to be faithful…

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God Bless…