Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

Father,

help us to seek the values

that will bring us enduring joy in this changing world.

In our desire for what You promise

make us one in mind and heart.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 24:42-51

Jesus said to his disciples: "Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. "Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is long delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, the servant's master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."

3) Reflection

• The Gospel today speaks about the coming of the Lord at the end of time and exhorts us to be watchful. At the time of the first Christians, many people thought that the end of this world was close at hand and that Jesus would return afterwards. Today many  think that the end of the world is close at hand. Therefore, it is well to reflect on the meaning of vigilance, of watchfulness.

• Matthew 24:42: Watch. “So stay awake! Watch, because you do not know the day when your master is coming.” Concerning the day and the hour of the end of the world, Jesus had said, “But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, no one but the Father!" (Mk 13:32). Today, many people are concerned about the end of the world. Have you seen, when walking through the streets of the city, that it is written on walls: “Jesus will return!” And how will this coming be? After the year 1000, basing themselves on the Gospel of John, people began to say (Rev 20:7): “1000 years have gone by, but 2000 will not pass by!” This is why, as the year 2000 approached, many were worried. There were even some people who were anguished because of the proximity of the end of the world, so much so that they committed suicide. Others, reading the Apocalypse of John, were even able to foretell the exact hour of the end. But the year 2000 came and nothing happened. The end of the world did not arrive! The declaration “Jesus will return” is often used to frighten people and oblige them to belong to a given church! Others, because they have waited so long and have speculated so much concerning the coming of Jesus, are not aware of His presence among us, in the most common things of life, in the facts of every day.

• The same problems existed in the Christian communities of the first centuries. Many people of the communities said that the end of this world was close at hand and that Jesus would return. Some of the community of Thessalonica in Greece, basing themselves on the preaching of Paul, said: “Jesus will return!” (1 Thess 4:13-18; 2 Thess  2:2). And this is why there were even people who no longer worked because they thought that the coming of the end was so close at hand, within a few days or a few weeks, so, “Why work, if Jesus will return soon?” (cf. 2 Thess 3:11). Paul responded that it was not as simple as they imagined. And to those who had stopped working he said, “Anyone who does not want to work, has no right to eat!” Others remained looking up at the sky, waiting for the return of Jesus in the clouds (cf. Acts 1:11). Others rebelled because He delayed coming back (2 Pet 3:4-9). In general the Christians lived in the expectation of the imminent coming of Jesus. Jesus was coming to carry out the Final Judgment to end the history of this world and to inaugurate a new phase of history, the new Heaven and the new Earth. They believed that this would take place within one or two generations. Many people would still be alive when Jesus appeared again, glorious in Heaven (1Thess 4:16-17; Mk 9:1). Others, tired of waiting, would say: “He will never come back!” (2 Pet 3).

• Up until now the coming of Jesus has not happened! How can this delay be understood? It is because they are not aware that Jesus has already returned and lives in our midst: “I am with you always, till the end of time.” (Mt 28:20). He is already at our side, in the struggle for justice, for peace, for life. The fullness has not as yet been attained, but a guarantee of the Kingdom is already in our midst. This is why we expect with a firm hope the full liberation of humanity and of nature (Rm 8:22-25). While we wait and struggle, we say with certainty, “He is already in our midst” (Mt 25:40).

• Matthew 24:43-51: The example of the householder and his servants. “Consider this: if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house.” Jesus says this very clearly. Nobody knows anything regarding the hour: "Concerning this day and this hour, nobody knows anything, neither the angels, or the Son, but only the Father.”

What is important is not to know the hour of the end of this world, but rather to be able to perceive the coming of Jesus, who is already present in our midst in the person of the poor (cf. Mt 25:40) and in so many other ways and events of our daily life. What is important is to open our eyes and to keep in mind the commitment of the good servant of whom Jesus speaks in the parable.

4) Personal questions

• On which signs do people base their belief that the end of the world is close at hand? Do you believe that the end of the world is close at hand?

• How should we respond to those who say that the end of the world is close at hand? What is the force which impels you to resist and to have hope?

• Our Creed says “He will come again to judge...” yet Jesus says He “is in our midst”. How do you reconcile these two statements?

• In English, and perhaps in many languages, the phrase “my world” means my life and what is in it. By using this more personal interpretation of the word “world”, can greater meaning be found in the use of the idea of “end of the world” than just thinking about the entire planet?

5) Concluding Prayer

Day after day I shall bless You, Lord,

I shall praise Your name for ever and ever.

Great is Yahweh and worthy of all praise,

His greatness beyond all reckoning. (Ps 145:2-3)