"to be like people waiting for their master"

The parable is a call to be spiritually vigilant and ready for Christ's return,

which is expected to be at an unexpected time.

This means one should be alert, prepared, and focused,

with their master's return as their highest priority. 

 

1st Reading: Romans 5:12, 156, 17-19, 20b-21

 Therefore,

Sin entered the world through one man; and through sin, death;

and later on, death spread to all humankind, because all sinned.

 

Such has been the fall, but God's gift goes far beyond.

All died, because of the fault of one man, but how much more does the grace of God spread,

when the gift he granted, reaches all, from this unique man, Jesus Christ.

 

If death reigned through the disobedience of one and only one person,

how much more, will there be a reign of life, for those who receive the grace,

and the gift of true righteousness, through the one person, Jesus Christ.

 

Just as one transgression brought sentence of death to all, so, too, one man's good act has brought justification and light to all;

and, as the disobedience of only one, made all sinners, so the obedience of one person, allowed all to be made just and holy.

 

The law itself, introduced later on, caused sin to increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

and, as sin caused death to reign, so grace will reign, in its own time, and, after making us just, and friends of God,

will bring us to eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

Ps 40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 17

 Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

 

Gospel: Luke 12:35-38

 B e ready, dressed for service, and keep your lamps lit, like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding.

As soon as he comes and knocks, they will open the door to him.

Happy are those servants whom the master finds wide-awake when he comes.

Truly, I tell you, he will put on an apron, and have them sit at table, and he will wait on them.

Happy are those servants, if he finds them awake when he comes at midnight or daybreak!

 

Gospel Reflection ：

 "To be like people waiting for their master."

 Holman Hunt's painting The Light of the World depicts Christ at night, standing at a door and knocking.

The door is overgrown with weeds and brambles through lack of use. It also has the peculiar feature of lacking a doorhandle.

This detail is significant, as it tells us that when Christ knocks, we have the choice to open to him or we can remain

"obstinately" closed to Christ, as Hunt described it. Christ urges us to be "like people waiting for their master," ready

and eager to open the door of our hearts to him. In Revelation, Jesus knocks at our door. In Luke's Gospel,

 

Jesus also uses this image to encourage us to be ready and alert for his return.

Our relationship with God operates on different levels. We depend upon God for our very existence,

and so we constantly live in him (Acts 17:28). However, on another level,

our lives are only truly blessed if we invite him in to be the honored guest and Lord of our lives.

We are to open the door and welcome him in.