21st Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: 1 Thes 3:7–13
Gospel: Mt 24:42–51
Jesus said to his disciples, “Stay awake, then, for you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Just think about this: if the owner of the house knew that the thief would come by night around a certain hour, he would stay awake to prevent his house to be broken into. So be alert, for the Son of Man will come at the hour you least expect.
“Imagine a capable servant whom his master has put in charge of his household to give them food at the proper time. Fortunate indeed is that servant whom his master will find at work when he comes. Truly, I say to you, his lord will entrust that one with everything he has.
“Not so with the bad servant who thinks: My master is delayed. And he begins ill-treating his fellow servants while eating and drinking with drunkards. But his master will come on the day he does not know and at the hour he least expects. He will dismiss that servant and deal with him as with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Commentary
To watch for Christ’s coming, is to maintain that frame of mind, in which we would be hoping that He would find us. We cannot know how much time we have to live, much less can we know the time fixed for the last judgment. Christ’s coming will be happy for those of us, who are found ready. But those, who choose the world for their portion in this life, will have hell for their portion in the other life. May Christ, when He comes, pronounce us blessed and present us to God, fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in heaven.
We must not become numb to this. We must not become numb to the deaths of those who die as a consequence of poverty, through lack of food or health care or shelter, for lack of hope or possibility, in our own country or elsewhere in the world. “How can I give you up?” God cries, knowing the consequences of us continuing on as we are. Our Christian tradition does not soften the reality of crucifixion. What it does affirm is that devastation, loss, and crucifixion do not have the last word. That belongs to God!

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