Daily Readings

THE SERVANT STANDS READY

Posted on by admin

TWENTY – FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

August 26, Thursday

 

In the first reading, Paul congratulates the Christians of Thessalonica for their loyalty to the Lord and asks them to hold on to the faith and to have world-wide charity, so as to be prepared for the Lord’s coming.

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.

 

First Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3:7-13

But now that Timothy is back, bringing this terrific report on your faith and love, we feel a lot better. It’s especially gratifying to know that you continue to think well of us, and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you! In the middle of our trouble and hard times here, just knowing how you’re doing keeps us going. Knowing that your faith is alive keeps us alive.

What would be an adequate thanksgiving to offer God for all the joy we experience before him because of you? We do what we can, praying away, night and day, asking for the bonus of seeing your faces again and doing what we can to help when your faith falters.

May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you! And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers.

 

Gospel: Matthew 24:42-51

“The Son of Man’s Arrival will be like that: Two men will be working in the field—one will be taken, one left behind; two women will be grinding at the mill—one will be taken, one left behind. So stay awake, alert. You have no idea what day your Master will show up. But you do know this: You know that if the homeowner had known what time of night the burglar would arrive, he would have been there with his dogs to prevent the break-in. Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up.

 “Who here qualifies for the job of overseeing the kitchen? A person the Master can depend on to feed the workers on time each day. Someone the Master can drop in on unannounced and always find him doing his job. A God-blessed man or woman, I tell you. It won’t be long before the Master will put this person in charge of the whole operation.

 “But if that person only looks out for himself, and the minute the Master is away does what he pleases—abusing the help and throwing drunken parties for his friends—the Master is going to show up when he least expects it and make hash of him. He’ll end up in the dump with the hypocrites, out in the cold shivering, teeth chattering.”

 

Prayer

Lord our God,
we affirm that we believe in you,
but we are in danger of forgetting
that deeds have to prove
the sincerity of our faith.
Help us to be wise and faithful servants
of steadfast faith and fervent love,
who follow the example of Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord for ever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

 Be alert, the Lord is coming!

 
The Gospel today speaks about the coming of the Lord at the end of time and exhorts us to be watchful, to watch. In the early Church, many believed that the end of this world was close at hand and that Jesus would return soon. Today, many people continue to believe that the end of the world is soon to happen. As the year 2000 approached, many were worried and anguished because of the proximity of the end of the world. Many times, these eschatological readings are used to frighten people and oblige them to take up some religious practices! The problems of the early Christian communities were very much similar. They waited for the second coming Jesus. There were people who no longer did any work because they thought that 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 Th 3, 11). That is why St. Paul had to intervene and say: “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. In general the Christians lived with the expectation of the imminent coming of Jesus. Slowly, as period of waiting prolonged, they began to lose patience and became tired of waiting and would say: “He will never come back!” Up until now the coming of Jesus has not arrived! 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. Jesus says this very clearly. Nobody knows anything regarding the hour of his coming: “Concerning this day and this hour, nobody knows anything, neither the angels, or the Son, but only the Father. Reading this passage carelessly can lead us to a misunderstanding of the text. There are chances that we understand God as a punishing God who would condemn those bad people to the fires of hell. “Will flog him severely, and sentence him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be lamenting and grinding of teeth,” reads the end of today’s Gospel. Is it not true that God is also presented as a merciful and forgiving God? Will such a forgiving God permit anyone to be condemned? Here, Matthew is making use of the scenes of punishments common in the earlier Persian Empire, of which his readers were well aware. Use threat to encourage compliance is a literary technique, applied well by the Evangelist. We believe in a forgiving God and not a punishing God

Video available on Youtube: Be alert, the Lord is coming!

Thank you for visiting ClaretOnline.org, this site is available in multiple languages. Please select a preferred language. You can change your selection later.

English

Spanish

Chinese

Thank you for visiting ClaretOnline.org, this site is available in multiple languages. Please select a preferred language. You can change your selection later.

English

Spanish

Chinese