kabarsula Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time: In the darkening days of autumn, the Church asks us to take stock bandar SLOT INDONESIA

 

Scripture readings for Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wis 6:12-16  Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8  1 Thes 4:13-18 OR 1 Thes 4:13-14  Matthew 25:1-13

Are you nervous yet?

Whether we want to admit it or not, the last line of this Gospel should leave us on edge. It might even keep you up at night.

Jesus says as much. “Stay awake,” he warns, “for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Judgement is coming. Christ himself will return. History will end. The world as we know it will come to a close. Will we be ready?

If you haven’t been thinking about mortality lately, or considering loss and the limits of life, you haven’t been paying attention. This scripture comes to us just days after we’ve remembered and prayed for those who have gone before us all the saints and souls (on Nov. 1 and 2). As the days grow shorter, we’re being asked to stop the rush of daily life and think about it all. Ponder. Pray. Remember.

The Church is giving us a lot to think about these days. If we thought Halloween was full of ghosts, what can we say about this second Sunday of November?

Well, for one thing, we are a haunted people — and this time we’re being haunted by ourselves.

We’re being told to take nothing for granted. Be ready. Be vigilant. Keep your lamp lit. Don’t get caught napping. In the darkening days of autumn, just before the end of the liturgical year, the Church is asking us to take stock — and take nothing for granted.

“We do not want you to be unaware,” St. Paul writes, “about those who have fallen asleep.” I can’t help but wonder: Who are the ones who are really asleep? Is he talking about us, the ones Jesus urges to stay awake?

And the first reading from Wisdom reminds us to keep watch: “Whoever for her sake keeps vigil shall quickly be free from care.”
We have work to do. If you thought you were going to spend these weeks making a dent in your Christmas list, baking pies, getting ready for holiday parties, buying tickets on Travelocity and looking forward to Thanksgiving leftovers, think again.

Just for now, for a little while, maybe we should be doing something else. Maybe we need to take time to reflect, remember and prepare.

Between this week and next, the Church offers us in the Sunday readings parables about vigilant bridesmaids and diligent servants — allegories designed to teach, provoke, challenge. The final feast of the liturgical year is drawing close, Christ the King — and we’re called to think more deeply about the King we serve, and how we can be ready for his return and his judgement.

How are we doing with that? Are we even giving it any thought?

In these passages and others from Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus was making some pointed connections for his disciples, and urging them to think differently about the days to come. What oil are we burning? What plans are we making?

Significantly, what comes after this passage is one of the most famous parables in Matthew’s 25th chapter, the story of the final judgment and the separation of the sheep from the goats. After preaching about the importance of keeping our lamps lit and our eyes open, Jesus went on to speak about what that really entails: Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the imprisoned and sick.

This chapter from Matthew serves as a powerful summation of what the Christian life demands. It demands wakefulness — and, beyond that, it demands action.
If we haven’t been thinking about that, now is a good time to start.

Deacon Greg Kandra is an award-winning author and journalist, and creator of the blog “The Deacon’s Bench.”