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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider As it was in the days of Noah…

As it was in the days of Noah…

Published Nov 14, 2025 12:05 am  |  Updated Nov 13, 2025 06:15 pm
REFLECTIONS TODAY
Jesus compares the days of the Son of Man with the two catastrophic events in Genesis, namely: (1) the days of Noah when the people were carefree, enjoying life without due regard to God, and then the Deluge came; and (2) the days of Lot, when people were so violent and immoral, and then fire and brimstone destroyed their cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Both events were sudden. Nobody was prepared for them, except those who listened to God like Noah and Lot and their families. The Gospel warns those who think that there is no end to everything. The Lord asks us to be always prepared, for the time is not specified. Let us not, therefore, vanish God in our thoughts, no matter how busy we are.
Let us take care not to be too engrossed with so many secular activities. We may become too secularized when God is no longer in our agenda. It is still possible to die with dignity, and in the grace of God, unlike the people who were swept away by the floodwaters with their animals and those consumed by the firestorm.
Gospel • Luke 17:26-37
Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.”
They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2025,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
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