“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit”

A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke (Lk 12, 39-48)

Jesus said to his disciples:  “Know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and if he begins to beat the other slaves, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and put him with the unfaithful. That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.

Earlier this year I was on a visit to my family. I stayed for some days at my brothers’. His three year old niece Julie and his one year old nephew Matthew visited him frequently. My brother told them that in summer they would go to the Azores, a beautiful place to visit. Julie kept asking whether they were going there the next day. She did not know where the Azores were. My brother told her that they were going ‘tomorrow’. She only knew that ‘tomorrow’ was some day in the near future. She kept telling people: “Tomorrow we are going to the Azores”.  She was very enthusiastic about it. They were visiting a beautiful place as family.

Jesus does not promise us a trip to the Azores but, some verses before today’s gospel selection, he told us: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”.  He did not tell us that we will go there ‘tomorrow’, but he told us: “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit”.  “The Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour”.

This is gospel. So it is good news. Are we happy about it? Do we keep telling people that Jesus will be visiting us shortly? Are we enthusiastic about it? Alas, I am afraid that we are not!

We associate the coming of the Son of Man with death, and that perhaps we might even go to heaven, who knows. But Jesus did two things. He told us that the Son of God became the Son of Man and lived among us so that we all may have life and have it abundantly (Jn 10, 10). He also taught us to ask Our Father in Heaven “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.  Indeed, if we are dressed for action, and if we keep our lamps lit, Jesus will surely visit us with his grace, his help, joy and encouragement, so that, even when we face difficulties (and difficulties can make us creative) we will grow as human beings, our life here on earth will be worth living to the full.

I am sure that God is not in a hurry to call us to his kingdom in heaven. We many a time are in a hurry to leave this world. We show this when we do not really care about our way of living, and the way we unnecessarily put ourselves and others in danger just to show how courageous we are, and things like this. Jesus would like us to start living in a heaven on this earth, in our days, as it were in an anteroom of the heaven above. Through his Church, Jesus keeps reminding us of this and daring us to live his way.

Is not Pope Francis insisting that we should change our ways, and try to live life in a more simple way? Is he not always asking us to take care of creation and to abandon our wasteful ways? He is always calling our attention to our ‘throw away’ culture. We throw away life, at its very beginning (abortion), when it is unproductive (old age and euthanasia), when we want to silence those who are different from us or do not agree with us. We throw away lots of food, when many, too many are dying of hunger…

In my boyhood, Christ’s words that he will come at an unexpected hour, just like thieves do, were presented in a negative way. People interpreted his call to ‘be prepared’, as a warning as if he said ‘beware’ … sort of ‘beware of the dog’! In my early years this idea that we should ‘beware of God’ was stamped in my childish mind. He was always presented to us as a judge, severe, very willing to punish us. He does not need to, for we are very creative in punishing ourselves! We are!

I find joy and rest in Christ’s words to his disciples: “My friends … Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows”. “Your father knows what you need… strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well” (Lk 12, 30-31).

Let us therefore be dressed for action in our baptismal vest. Let us be salt of the earth and light of the world (Mt 5, 13-14) for “Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives”.

We can then pray with enthusiasm: “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”