2 John 4-9 / Luke 17:26-37
To be on "stand-by" can be quite taxing and draining in that we are like on our toes but not going anywhere yet and may not even need to go anywhere at all.
It's just like the tv or the hi-fi set that has the stand-by light that is on - pressing the button on the remote control will kick it into action immediately.
But for human beings, that stand-by mode is certainly an anxious and even a stressful time.
We are to be prepared to do something and yet there is also that uncertainty whether we will actually have to do it at all.
In the meantime, standing on our toes is not really that exciting and we want to relax and even get lax and we may even start to switch off.
The 1st reading talks about the life of love and also a plea to be always loving and to be ready to love at all times.
Yet it also warns of a deception that comes in the form of enjoyment and pleasures of the world and the commandment of love and the readiness to love can be forgotten.
Yes, evil does not attack love head on but employs deception and distraction and even disappointment to erode the readiness to love and to forget the commandment of love.
Hence we have to be on stand-by to love always and to keep focused on the commandment of love.
It is in carrying out the commandment and putting love into action that God's love is revealed.