THE WORD
Rom 6: 12–18 / Lk 12: 39–48
Jesus said to his disciples, “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.
IN OTHER WORDS
What do we usually do while we are in the mode of waiting? Most of the time people become impatient when asked to wait, and others even tend to give up easily. But whether we like it or not, waiting is a reality embedded in life; it is a part of our day-to-day existence. The question is, “What do we do while waiting?”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus highlights the return of the “Son of Man,” asking us to focus on the question, “What do we do while we wait for the Lord to come again?” Perhaps the best possible preparation we could do is to live each day and do faithfully what is expected of us. Being Christ’s followers we ought to know how to live out the demands of a Christian life. Each day we are expected to be faithful to our calling, even in small matters – such as by caring for those who are in need, observing justice in our work, promoting life-giving relationships with every person we meet, adopting a prayerful attitude in all things that we do, etc. These perhaps are simple matters but when we do them with faith, they become expressions of our preparedness to meet with the Lord.
Each day is an opportunity for us to meet the Lord even in the little things that we do. But most of the time, we have become insensitive to the little details of such an encounter. So, the next time around, instead of complaining how we have wasted our time while waiting for something to happen, we might as well do something productive because God is always with us, accompanying us every minute of the day.
- Roger Solis, SVD (HNU, Tagbilaran City)
The Word in other words 2015
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
