Blessed are they who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb. — Revelation 19:9a

Mass Readings: Revelation 18:1-2,21-23;19:1-3,9a/Luke 21:20-28 

A Coming Judgment 

On this date, 32 years ago, Tamar Hennessey braided her mother’s white hair for the last time and washed her body. Dorothy Day had died that day at 83 after a heart attack. The founder of the Catholic Worker movement didn’t want a pricey funeral. She was buried in a pine coffin in a borrowed grave. Rock-solid in her faith in Jesus Christ and devotion to Catholicism, Day attended Mass, read Scripture, and prayed the Rosary daily. Even more, she lived Matthew 25. In that Gospel, Jesus said we’d be judged for the way we treat the “least” among us. 

Today’s Gospel tells about a frightening judgment but, Jesus says, if we follow Him, we shouldn’t be afraid. I think Dorothy Day, whose cause for canonization was introduced in New York in 2000, didn’t need to worry. 

Prayer: Jesus, help us to see and serve You in the “least” of our brothers and sisters.