From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD himself will give his benefits; our land shall yield its increase. Justice shall walk before him, and salvation, along the way of his steps. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 12:35-38)
Jesus said to his disciples: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks the disciples and all of his followers to be vigilant for his return. Comparing his coming to a master returning from a wedding, Jesus turns the roles of master and servant on its head. The master himself will have them find a place at the table and wait on them. Similarly, the psalmist says, “The LORD himself will give his benefits.” A people far off from the master are drawn to him in his gift of salvation, as Saint Paul explains. “But now in Christ Jesus,” he says, “you who once were far off have become near by the Blood of Christ.”
God, help me be vigilant at all times and pray, ready to open immediately when I hear your voice. To be without you is to be without hope in this world or the life of the world to come. Give me the grace to see in sacrifice and suffering the opportunity to follow the example of Jesus. Let that grace shine through me to give glory to you, Lord. “In a word,” Saint John Paul II said, “you must set yourselves on the path of holiness. Only thus can you be a sign of God in the world. . . .” Saint John Paul II, pray for us!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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