“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…You also must be prepared, for at an hour
you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” (Luke 12: 35-37, 40)
Today we are reminded that we must live each day in anticipation
of the Lord’s coming. If the Lord would come today, what would he find? I know
for myself that he would find that it has been two months since my last
confession and that my sins are weighing heavy on me. They cause me to be
cynical and wonder why I should even bother going if I am going to repeat the
same sins again. I usually go once a month but have allowed the business of my
life to get in the way. A priest recently told me that I must always trust in God’s mercy and to see the
sacrament [of Confession] as an opportunity to touch the hem of our loving, merciful
savior. No longer will I allow my pride or cynicism to keep me from this
gift God has given us; an opportunity to be reunited with Him and washed
cleaned by the blood of his Son.
Being vigilant means to actively seek God, anticipate His coming,
and to be watching for Him. I know that when I had family coming to town last
month for my birthday there was joy in my heart as I anticipated their arrival.
I made sure the house was in order and the day of their arrival I kept a watch
at the front window checking frequently to see if they were here yet, you could
feel the excitement in the air! As we await the Lord’s coming we must
constantly live a life of holiness and virtue. And when we falter and sin,
which we will do often, we must run to the confessional and once again be
united with Christ. We need to nurture our relationship with Him through prayer
and receive His grace that he offers to us through the sacraments.
Today’s gospel goes on to tell us, “That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations
nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely.” (12:47) Free
will is a gift God gave to no other creature but man. And we will be held
accountable for the choices that we make. If we “get beaten severely” it is by our own doing. We know what is right
but are we willing to do it? We know that the Lord is coming, are we willing to
live a life in constant vigilance or do we allow ourselves to become
complacent? We cannot afford to become complacent about the Lord’s coming
because it is truly a matter of eternal life or death.
