Gospel Reflection Aug 10 – Deacon Paul Zemanek
Sunday, August 10
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Luke 12: 32-48
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.”
Then Peter said,
“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?”
And the Lord replied,
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.
Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant
in charge of all his property.
But if that servant says to himself,
‘My master is delayed in coming,’
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.
That servant who knew his master’s will
but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will
shall be beaten severely;
and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating
shall be beaten only lightly.
Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”
Gospel Reflection:
Friends, in today’s Gospel, we heard about being “prepared.” But, being prepared for what? Well, we are called to always be prepared for the coming of the Master, that is Jesus. Be prepared for His judgment that will come when we die. Yes, when we die, and we will indeed face that day.
In the first part of our Gospel, Jesus urges us to travel light in this world, with less of the excess baggage, be it material things or emotional feelings. He encourages us to not be afraid and to store up treasures in heaven, rather than on earth.
Friends, we live in a world where there are so many things that are clamoring for our attention that it can be easy for us to lose our focus. But Jesus is calling us to prioritize our activities that will lead us to eternal life. For if we don’t re-center our lives on God, we might be caught unprepared.
Our passage today also recalls for us last week’s reflection on stewardship. For you see, when we speak of stewardship, we are not only speaking of the giving of our money, but we are also talking about the giving of our time. And so, how might we budget some of our time to build up treasures in heaven? We might visit the sick, help to feed the hungry, be cheerful and thoughtful to someone who is sad, be a friend to someone who is lonely. All of these are things we can do here on earth that will be stored up as “treasures of heaven,” about which Jesus spoke. The key thing for us to always remember is that we should never put anything before God. In short, God doesn’t want our resources. NO, God just wants US!!
How prepared are you to meet God? For each one of us is going to die. I suspect that it is not a surprise to you or something new that you haven’t heard before. We don’t know when or how, but we will die. But the questions we need to ask ourselves are these: How ready are we to meet Him? Are we more focused on building up our earthly treasures than our heavenly treasures?
Friends, Jesus’ message for us today is to live each day as a preparation to meet Him with joy. He teaches us that there is no tomorrow for those who live only for material things and possessions. And so, where our treasure is, there also will our heart be. Let us be prepared!!
Deacon Paul Zemanek