DAILY GRACE
August 27, 2020, Thursday of the 21st Week of Ordinary Time
Scripture: Matthew 23:27-32
Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
‘Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves 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 wicked slave says to himself, “My master is delayed”, and he begins to beat his fellow-slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, 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. He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation:
“‘Keep awake.”
The Greek word translated as “keep awake” indicates a constant vigil. Monks of the Eastern tradition would keep vigil through the night in prayer, standing toward the rising sun, in a gesture symbolic of awaiting the final return of the Son of God. We are more familiar with vigils at the bedside of the sick or dying. We keep vigil with others, comforting them with out presence, awaiting a turn for the better or a dying person’s last breath.
We are all too familiar with waiting, but sometimes our waiting is not like watching in constant vigil. We wait for elections to happen, conflicts to end, babies to be born. We wait for pay increases, good weather, or Christmas to arrive. We wait in checkout lines and in restaurants. We spend much of our life waiting. And the waiting often frustrates and annoys us, breaks our hearts, or leads to boredom.
Today’s Gospel might seem distant to us with its stories of thieves breaking into a house, servants and masters, and food distribution. A deeper level of meaning can be found here, however. We all are waiting, on many levels, for many things. We wait for the passing of time and the end of things over which we have no control. We wait for the second coming of the Son of Man.
For what are you waiting right now? Frustrating or boring “waiting time” can become for us “vigil time,” as we await in a spirit of prayer and hushed anticipation God’s providence for us right now, and for days to come.
Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. I will keep watch. I will watch for you today —- in my spouse, my child, my neighbor, my church, my place of work. I will keep vigil in prayer in the silence of my heart, in the wonder of the world. Maranatha!
Contemplation
Come, Lord Jesus, come.
