Gospel for October 21, 2009, Wednesday
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. | 10/21/2009 12:00 AM
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29th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Rom 6:12–18
Gospel: Lk 12:39–48
Jesus said to his disciples, “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 food rations 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 menservants and the servant girls, eating and drinking and getting drunk. Then the master will come on a day he does not expect him 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 to do what his master wanted, will be punished with sound blows; but the one who did what deserved a punishment without knowing it shall receive fewer blows. Much will be required of the one who has been given much, and more will be asked of the one entrusted with more.”
Commentary
At the start of today’s gospel, a different image breaks in: if the householder had known at what time the burglar was coming, he wouldn’t have let his house be broken into. The one, who is to come, is not only a promise but also a threat: a threat to our autonomy; a threat to the comfortable compromises by which we order our lives. We are the householders; we think we are in control. The day of God’s coming overturns all this.
The Son of Man will come at an hour we do not expect. So much for the cosy images of death as a swift escalator up to the pearly gates of heaven. Christ will come, not only at the time we least expect him, but in a form we least expect. The one, who will come in glory, has already been here, many times and in many shapes: hungry and thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick and in prison. He has been here many times and judges us by how we received Him. May we be alert for Christ’s coming and recognize Him in every man, woman and child, and especially in those most in need of our help.
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