The gospel for Thursday of the 21st week in Ordinary Time is taken from Matthew 24th, chapter 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 in 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 the 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, begins to beat his fellow servants, 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’ll be wailing and grinding of teeth. Jesus has spent a great deal of time talking to the disciples about the corruption and the evil of those who ran the temple. But he’s also concerned deeply about the corruption that can come into any role of authority. And certainly the disciples, when they became apostles, had great authority, great power. So he’s reminding them that the key to living as God calls us to live, is to be servants to one another, to feed one another, to care for one another.
And if we don’t do that, if we instead decide that it’s not that important, or I can get away without doing it, we have to remember, he says, that this is not an option. It is essential. Feed and care for one another. Closing PRAYER Father, we often seek to do something wonderful for you or something that’s a major sacrifice, and feel we’ve won your approval. But nothing is more approved by God than our simple, loving, forgiving, compassionate care for one another. Bless us with this great grace and this great gift.
And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
