Luke 12:32-48 (19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 7, 2016)

Gospel:

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

“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. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Gospel Trivia:

There are several trivia here that would help us appreciate the meaning of this gospel story:

- "girding one's loins" is done so that one's robe does not get in the way, and one can swiftly get up and, in this case, walk towards and open the house's gate for the master;

- a "lighted lamp" is most important because one cannot move or do anything, not even walk, in total darkness;

- the "second or third watch" refers to the middle of the night as the night is usually divided into three watches (or shifts) by Jewish tradition.

But the most important trivia here is that the master, upon finding vigilant servants upon his arrival, will wait and serve on them.  A master never does this to his servants.  And even if it is, isn't it strange that they would have a feast in the middle of the night?  Why not wait the next day.

This story is allegorical, or symbolic.  It talks about vigilance, and also of the rewards of vigilance.  God welcomes his disciples with so much joy that he prepares the heavenly banquet for them.

Reference:


- Nil Guillemette, SJ, Parables for Today (Makati: St. Paul Publications, 1987), pp. 174-175.