St. John of Copistrano, Priest 

*** 1st Reading ***

Romans 6: 12-18

Do not allow sin any control over your mortal bodies;

do not submit yourselves to its evil inclinations,  and do not give your members over to sin, as instruments to do evil. On the contrary, offer yourselves as persons returned from death to life, and let the members of your body be as holy instruments at the service of God.  Sin will not lord it over you again, for you are not under the law, but under grace.

 I ask again: are we to sin because we are not under the Law, but under grace? Certainly not.   If you have given yourselves up to someone as his slave, you are to obey the one who commands you, aren’t you? Now with sin you go to death, and by accepting faith you go the right way.  

Let us give thanks to God for, after having sin as your master, you have been given to another, that is, to the doctrine of faith, to which you listen willingly.  And being free from sin, you began to serve true righteousness—you see, that I speak in a very human way, taking into account that you are not fully mature.

There was a time, when you let your members be slaves of impurity and disorder, walking in the way of sin; convert them, now, into servants of righteousness, to the point of becoming holy.When you were slaves of sin, you did not feel under obligation to righteousness.

 

Ps 124  Our help is in the name of the Lord.

 

**** Gospel ****

Luke 12: 39-48

Pay attention to this: If the master of the house had known at what time the thief would come, he would not have let his house be broken into.   You also must be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.”

Peter said, “Lord, did you tell this parable only for us, or for everyone?”  And the Lord replied, “Imagine, then, the wise and faithful steward whom the master sets over his other servants to give them wheat at the proper time. Fortunate is this servant if his master on coming home finds him doing his work.   Truly, I say to you, the master will put him in charge of all his property.

But it may be that the steward thinks: ‘My Lord delays in coming,’ and he begins to abuse the male servants and the servant girls, eating and drinking and getting drunk. Then the master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he doesn’t know. He will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful.

The servant who knew his mas­ter’s will, but did not prepare and do what his master wanted, will be soundly beaten; but the one who does unconsciously what deserved a punishment, shall receive fewer blows.

Much will be required of the one who has been given much, and more will be asked of the one who has been given much, and more will be asked of the one who has been entrusted with more.

 

Reflection gospel:

“AND MORE WILL BE ASKED OF THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH MORE.”

We have an additional lesson on being prepared. This time, the Lord uses the image of the thief. This does not mean of course that the Lord is like a thief in his character. The illustration simply points to the difficulty to estimate the thief’s hour of breaking in, therefore readiness at all time is necessary.

It is challenging trying to enter into the mind of the thief so it is necessary to avoid negligence in anticipating his every move. The Lord’s warning about the consequence of not being prepared when he comes is pretty consistent.

There will be judgment. But here the Lord distinguishes between receiving a sound beating and receiving fewer blows. The key here is understanding concerning “not doing what one knows” and not doing what one does not know”.

All of us are God’s servants. But not all of us possess the same amount of knowledge about the Master’s will. We may all be mediocre in preparing for his return to deserve punishment. Those who did not know about it will receive a few blows. But more unfortunate shall we be who know more about it and did not do much.