First Reading - Wisdom 18:6-9
Second Reading - Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19
Gospel - Luke 12:32-48
Who would have thought that relatively powerless persons could bring shifts in history? Gandhi, an unsuccessful lawyer, adapted the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount and the writings of Tolstoy and became the key to bringing independence to India, because he was ready. Rosa Parks, in refusing to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, sparked the beginning of the Civil Rights movement of the ’50s and ’60s. She was a rather inauspicious person to take such a critical action, but she was ready. Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison. He was released to bring a shift in the politics of South Africa at a critical juncture when many thought, either that change would never come or if it did, it would be accompanied by a vast bloodbath. The transition to a more just society came relatively peacefully under his leadership after he was unexpectedly released from prison. Prison had prepared him, made him ready. Mother Teresa,a rather unpretentious nun, has been canonized a Saint for her simple act of trying to rescue people from the streets who might otherwise die. She was ready!
Today’s readings invite us to have the necessity for trusting Faith in God’s promises and vigilant preparedness in the followers of Christ to meet their God as their Judge and Rewarder at the time of their death. Fidelity in doing God’s will is the best preparation for our death.
The first reading of today interprets Exodus chapters 11 and 12 where, while the angel of the Lord was striking down the first-born of Pharaoh and other Egyptians, the vigilant Hebrew slaves were both obediently offering grateful sacrifice to the Lord and eating the meat of the lamb to fortify themselves for their coming escape. That night was the first Passover. Like those Jewish slaves in Egypt, we, too, have been called to cling to the Hope of a future that may seem too good to be true, and we, too, are expected to be steadfast in our Faith, even when we see no signs of the fulfillment of God’s promises.
The second reading is taken from the end of the Letter to the Hebrews. It contains the only explicit definition of religious Faith in the Bible: “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). The Letter to the Hebrews was intended to bolster the Faith of the Jewish Christians (Hebrews), by appealing to the example of their ancestors who had believed in promises yet to be fulfilled. The chief example of strong Faith is found in their patriarch Abraham, a wealthy but childless pagan in Ur of the Chaldees (modern Iraq). Abraham heard the voice of God summoning him to a different land, where God promised to grant him many descendants. By Faith Abraham left his homeland, accepted God’s promise that his descendants would form a great nation, and was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac at God’s command. Despite obstacles and setbacks, Abraham stayed obedient, “for he thought that the One Who had made the promise was trustworthy” (Heb 11:11). The first century Jewish Christians were ostracized from Temple worship (sacrifices, priesthood, rituals), of mainline Judaism. To bolster their Faith, the author provided a complex treatise showing that, in their new life in Christ, they were more than compensated for what they had lost. They were given the assurance that Christ’s promises for his believers exceeded the promises given to their Jewish ancestors.
Today’s gospel passage is from Luke 12. It is one of three eschatological discourses in the Gospel. All three of the Synoptic Gospels record Jesus’ concern for his disciples as he warned them to keep alert, to keep watch over themselves with careful attention. The passage is a collection of short parables, in which the chief characters are a master (representing the risen Jesus), and his servants (Jesus’ followers). According to the Fathers of the Church, Jesus’ words in this passage have two senses. In the narrower sense, the words refer to the Second Coming of Jesus, but in the broader sense they refer to the time of our own death, when God will call us to meet Him and to give Him an account of our life on earth. Since the precise time of either coming is unknown to us, the proper attitude for Jesus’ followers is constant watchfulness.The secret to living out the theological virtue of Faith is to see that the here and now is the place and time in which God wants us to meet Him and to serve Him. It is not in the past, which is over. It is not the future, which we can only imagine and so is not real. The person in the state of grace who washes the dishes well, because it is his job, and who offers this work to God for the sake of his neighbor, is living out the virtue of Faith and is prepared to meet Christ.
In the first part of today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us what our real treasure should be and how we may keep it safe. The treasure God offers is of far greater value and is more secure than any earthly treasure. Nevertheless, it is possible for us to lose this treasure if we do not guard it carefully. The treasure is the Faith-relationship with God, which the Lord offers us in Baptism, a share in His own Life (Sanctifying Grace) through which we begin, here on earth, to lead our eternal life in Heaven with Him. But this treasure can be stolen by the devil or lost by our lack of vigilance in the midst of our temptations. Jesus uses two comparisons to explain the nature of the vigilance required of us. We must be ready for action like an oriental servant and trimmed for service like an oil lamp. The long flowing robes worn by people of the day were a hindrance to work. When a man prepared himself to work, he gathered up his robes under his girdle (belt) in order to leave himself free for activity. The reference to fastened belts and lamps burning ready (v. 35) also recalls the preparedness for action, which was legislated for Israel in the Passover ritual (Ex12:1). Just as the Israelites were to be ready to pass from slavery to freedom, so are the disciples to live in a state of alertness in order to recognize and accept the Passover which Jesus offers – from sin and death to forgiveness and life. The eastern lamp was often a cotton wick floating in a vessel of oil. The wick had to be kept trimmed at all times and the lamp replenished with oil. Otherwise the light would go out. What Jesus teaches us through these comparisons is that our relationship with God the Father must be constantly replenished by our prayers, our Sacramental life, our reading of Holy Scripture, and our acts of charity. Since the Lord is committed to us in an unbreakable Covenant of love and fidelity, we must, assisted by His grace, respond with equal commitment, no matter how difficult that may be. In His love for us, God always gives us the grace and strength to remain faithful, and He will reward our faithfulness.
In the second part of today’s Gospel, Jesus exhorts his followers to be steadfast in their Faith and ever vigilant. He explains his point using three mini-parables. The servants of a master were entrusted with the management of the household. In Jesus’ day, although stewards were slaves, they had almost unlimited power. A trusted steward ran his master’s house and administered his estate. When his master was not at home, the steward was ever-vigilant. He prepared himself for his master’s return at any time of the day or night by always doing his duties faithfully. Jesus illustrates the same point using another mini-parable of the wise servants waiting for the return of their master after a wedding feast.
Jesus teaches us the need for constant vigilance, using yet another mini-parable, that of the thief and the treasure. We should not lose our treasure of Divine grace like the man who awoke one day to discover that a thief had stolen his wealth during the night. These parables are addressed to all believers to encourage “wakefulness” and preparedness. We must be vigilant like the servant in the parable waiting for his master’s unexpected return or like the wise homeowner who was well prepared for the unexpected break-in of a thief. Since the time of our death is quite uncertain, we, too, must be ever ready to meet our Lord at any moment. He should find us carrying out our tasks of love, mercy, and service, rather than leaving things undone or half-done. He should also find us at peace with God, with ourselves and with our fellowmen (Eph 4:26).
Dear friends, one of the traditional means for remaining alert is prayer. The most important element in prayer is listening to God – an attitude of attention to the “tiny whispering sound” of the Lord (1 Kgs 19:11-12). Such attentiveness demands that we set aside a quiet time every day during which we can tune our ears to the Divine sounds of love, harmony, and peace. Let us recall the words of the Book of Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him and he with me” (3:20).
“Waiting for Christ to return” means working for the coming of the Kingdom of God. This means doing God’s will by rendering humble service to others by combating poverty, by ending the hatred that divides us, by establishing peace among individuals and nations, by curbing the pride that causes us to become confrontational, and by building social structures that respect the dignity of individual humans. We must wait for the Lord in our daily lives by learning to see Jesus in the least of our brothers and sisters. In other words, we must be prepared to serve Jesus in whatever form he takes. What we frequently discover in “serving” other people is that God comes to us through them.
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