Stay awake and be ready at all times
Introduction
For three-and-a-half weeks, we will hear in the first reading excerpts from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. In this letter, Paul has to face practical problems in a young Christian community in pagan territory, particularly its internal division into factions, lapses of morality, relations with pagans, the role of charisms, and faith in the resurrection, so difficult to Greeks. In today’s greeting, he reminds the Christians of Corinth how they have become rich in Christ.
1 Reading 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Paul, called to be an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
and Sosthenes our brother,
to the Church of God that is in Corinth,
to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy,
with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always on your account
for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in him you were enriched in every way,
with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful,
and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Responsorial Psalm 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R. (1) I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
Generation after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendour of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
They discourse of the power of your terrible deeds
and declare your greatness.
They publish the fame of your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your justice.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
Alleluia Matthew 24:42a, 44
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stay awake!
For you do not know when the Son of Man will come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel 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.”
Commentary
“Stay awake!” Jesus often repeated. Much of what we call our waking life is a variety of forms of sleep, when we are deeply immersed in ourselves. There is a new interest in meditation in our time. What is meditation? It is an effort to wake from one’s sleep, from one’s ego-cantered world, so-to-say. So Jesus does not say one should not sleep, but that one must be alert to denounce all forms of injustice, revenge and hate. That one must awaken the spirit of justice, mercy and love – doing the right thing all the time. Nigerians calls it “shine your eye”. Especially to the leaders of the community, the Lord says that at his coming, he should find them doing what they are supposed to do, that is, serving the community in love.
Blessing
Blessed is that servant whom the master finds at work when he arrives. May the Lord bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!