As the liturgical year nears its end, the mother Church gives us the liturgy of the Word that focus on Christ’s final return. Today’s Gospel reminds us of Noah and Lot, whose contemporaries lived normally until sudden destruction came. Jesus warns us that His return will mirror all these events, urging us to be ready at all times.

In the time of Noah and Lot, many ignored this call to vigilance, postponing change for a future that wasn’t certain. The possibility of Jesus’s return or our own unexpected death should spur us to prepare now.

Dear brethren, readiness isn’t just for the end of the world, or for the judgement day; it’s for every moment, as Jesus constantly comes to us in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist.

We’re called to choose eternal values over temporal temptations, securing grace now and at the final judgment. Let us reflect on our daily choices: do they align with God’s kingdom? Yesterday, we heard Jesus telling us in the Gospel of Luke, that the kingdom of God is among us, it’s already here in our midst.

If our choices align with God’s will, then God’s grace and mercy will be ours. If we do not find ourselves on the side of God, then it’s high time we considered changing our ways to survive the fate of those in Noah’s and Lot’s time. Choose God now, and be thankful forever.

St. Albert the Great whom we celebrate today, was an influential figure in the Catholic Church during his time but even now. His life changed following a profound experience with the Blessed Virgin Mary, leading him to join the Dominican Order in the 13^th century. So we celebrate today one of our brothers of great memories in the life of the church and the order.

He was a man of great humility and endowed with the gift of wisdom and knowledge. When he was appointed a bishop of Regensburg in Germany by Pope Alexander IV in 1260, Albert’s humility shone as he had to obey the supreme pontiff but also adhering to his Order’s rules. He served as a bishop for 3 years and resigned in 1263, he left his episcopal life, and was reassigned to preach the gospel of truth as his Dominican charism demanded.

Dearly beloved, let us ask the Lord in this Eucharist, that through the intercession of St. Albert the great we may be always ready to meet the Lord and above all, to let ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit. Amen.   Dn. Richard LWANGA, OP.