The Son Of Man Will Come At An Hour You Do Not Expect

"Pay attention to this: If the master of the house had known at what time the thief would come, he would not have let his house be broken into.  'You also must be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.'

Peter said, 'LORD, did you tell this parable only for us, or for everyone?'  And the LORD replied, 'Imagine, then, the wise and faithful steward, whom the master sets over his other servants, to give them wheat at the proper time.  Fortunate is this servant if his master, on coming home, finds him doing his work.  Truly, I say to you, the master will put him in charge of all his property.

But it may be that the steward thinks, 'My Lord delays in coming,' and he begins to abuse the male servants and the servant girls, eating and drinking and getting drunk.  Then the master will come on a day he does not expect, and at an hour he doesn't know.  He will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful.

The servant who knew his master's will but did not prepare and do what his master wanted, will be soundly beaten; but the one who does unconsciously what deserves punishment, shall receive fewer blows.  Much will be required of the one who has been given much and more will be asked of the one who has been entrusted with more.'" - Luke 12:39-48  

(The Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.  We should not think that this refers only to the day of death, nor should we be afraid of GOD's judgment if we live in HIS grace.  JESUS tells us about the master returning from the wedding, who is so happy that he reverses the usual order and begins to serve his servants.  If we have been serving GOD for years, how could we not reach another phase of spiritual life in which it would seem that GOD is concerned only in giving and feasting with us?

Peter said: This new paragraph is aimed at those who hold responsible positions in the Church.

My Lord delays in coming.  Those in responsible positions may betray their mission.  More often, they make the mistake of seeing only to the good functioning of the institution and they forget that CHRIST is coming.

GOD comes all the time through events that, unexpectedly, ruin our plans.  Therefore, the Church must not rely too much on planning its activity: who knows what GOD has in store for us tomorrow?  Instead, the Church should see to its prayers and its availability so that the LORD will let her be in the best situation when HE shakes up our little universe.

Be awake to admire, rejoice in and discover the presence of GOD and HIS blessings that enlighten our lives.)

On-Site

Be Ready!

"Be ready, dressed for service, and keep your lamps lit, like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding.  As soon as he comes and knocks, they will open the door to him.  Happy are those servants whom the master finds wide-awake when he comes.  Truly, I tell you, he will put on an apron, and have them sit at table, and he will wait on them.  Happy are those servants, if he finds them awake when he comes at midnight or daybreak!" - Luke 12:35-38  

(JESUS develops the parable of the servant expecting his master's return.  This servant is here contrasted with the rich of the preceding paragraph [12:13] who was only concerned about a long and comfortable life.  The servant works for GOD.

Happy are those servants whom the master finds wide-awake.  Wide-awake, that is, concerned about tomorrow's world.  Wide-awake also means being aware of the truth; we do not consent to call 'good' evil, and 'evil' good; we do not forgive ourselves for allowing evil and we are not intimidated before injustice.)

On-Site 

Greed

"Someone in the crowd spoke to JESUS, 'Master, tell my brother to share with me the family inheritance.'  HE replied, 'My friend, who has appointed ME as your judge or your attorney?'  Then JESUS said to the people, 'Be on your guard and avoid every kind of greed, for even though you have many possessions, it is not that which gives you life.' 

And JESUS continued with this story, 'There was a rich man and his land had produced a good harvest.  He thought:  'What shall I do?  For I am short of room to store my harvest.'  So this is what he planned:  'I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones to store all this grain, which is my wealth.  Then I may say to myself:  My friend, you have a lot of good things put by for many years.  Rest, eat, drink and enjoy yourself.'  But GOD said to him:  'You fool!  This very night your life will be taken from you; tell ME who shall get all you have put aside?  This is the lot of the one who stores up riches instead of amassing for GOD'." - Luke 12:13-21   

(Who has appointed me as your judge?  JESUS does not resolve legal differences as do the teachers of the Law since it was the Law that decided civil and religious questions.  JESUS reserves HIS authority for what is essential:  suppressing the greed ingrained in our hearts is more important than looking at every person's right with a magnifying glass.

 

Avoid every kind of greed.   JESUS does not say people should be resigned to mediocrity or destitution, satisfied to have ten people sleep in the same room, and without any opportunity for education.  We know that all this prevents the growth of people in awareness of their dignity and their divine vocation.  JESUS does not criticize our efforts to achieve a more just society, since the whole Bible requires it.

 

It is one thing to seek justice, knowing that without justice there is neither peace nor communion; it is quite another to look at what others have with the desire to share their greed.  Today we clamor for justice, but tomorrow we may only seek more superfluous "necessities".  Such greed will never let us rest and, what is more, it will close the door of the Kingdom on us [Mark 10:23; 1 Timothy 6:8].

 

Possessions do not give life.  Make sure that your concern to have what you lack does not make you neglect what could give you life now.

 

In this regard, we should allow the poor to speak, all those brothers and sisters of ours who, though immersed in poverty, continue to be persons who live, in the strongest sense of this word.  Should we pity them, or should we count them among the few who already enjoy the Kingdom of GOD?  One of the greatest obstacles preventing the liberation of people is their own greed.  The day they agree to participate in powerful boycotts and not go their own way in the pursuit of advantages for one or other category, they shall begin to live as people.
 

 What shall I do?  The rich man in the parable planned for larger barns for his sole profit and JESUS condemned him.  We too must consider what we should do to bring about a better distribution of the riches of the world.

 

The person who amasses for GOD knows how to find happiness in the present moment.  Wherever she is, she tries to create a network of social relationships through which everyone gives to others and receives from them instead of wanting and getting things in a selfish way.)

On-Site

Paying Taxes To Caesar

"They sent to JESUS some Pharisees with members of Herod's party, with the purpose of trapping HIM by HIS own words.  They came and said to JESUS, 'Master, we know that YOU are truthful; YOU are not influenced by anyone, and YOUR answers do not vary according to who is listening to YOU, but YOU truly teach GOD's way.  Tell us, is it against the law to pay taxes to Caesar?  Should we pay them or not?'

But JESUS saw through their trick and answered, 'Why are you testing ME?  Bring ME a silver coin and let ME see it.'  They brought HIM one and JESUS asked, 'Whose image is this, and whose name?'  They answered, 'Caesar's.'  Then JESUS said, 'Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to GOD, what is GOD's.'

And they were greatly astonished." - Mark 12:13-17  

(What is Caesar's can be understood: "what belongs to Caesar."  Rather it means: "the kind of things which fall under his rule."  With HIS answer "to Caesar what belongs to him, to GOD..."  JESUS separates religion and politics in cultures--Jewish and Roman alike--where politics always looked for religious justification.  From now on, religion should not be manipulated for political purposes, nor should religion confuse its political opponents with the enemies of the kingdom.)

On-Site

To Slander Or To Blaspheme The HOLY SPIRIT

"'I tell you, whoever acknowledges ME before people, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of GOD.  But the one who denies ME before others will be denied before the angels of GOD.

There will be pardon for the one who criticizes the Son of Man, but there will be no pardon for the one who slanders the Holy Spirit.

When you are brought before the synagogues, and before governors and rulers, don't worry about how you will defend yourself, or what to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you have to say.'" - Luke 12:8-12  

(To slander [or: to blaspheme] the Holy Spirit is to attribute to a bad spirit a work that is manifestly good.  Those who systematically attribute bad intentions to good work done by others, by the Church, by other parties, sin against the Holy Spirit.  The one who recognizes the truth but not GOD is better off than the one who says he believes in GOD but does not recognize the truth.)

On-Site

Open And Fearless Speech

"Meanwhile, such a numerous crowd had gathered that they crushed one another.  Then JESUS spoke to HIS disciples in this way,

'Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  Nothing is covered that will not be uncovered; or hidden, that will not be made known.  Whatever you have said in darkness will be heard in daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden places, will be proclaimed from housetops.

I tell you, MY friends, do not fear those who put to death the body and, after that, can do no more.  But I will tell you whom to fear: Fear the one who, after killing you, is able to throw you into hell.  This one you must fear.  Don't you buy five sparrows for two pennies?  Yet not one of them has been forgotten by GOD.  Even the hairs of your head have been numbered.  Don't be afraid!  Are you less worthy in the eyes of GOD than many sparrows?" - Luke 12:1-7   

(Nothing is hidden that will not be made known: this could be interpreted in different ways.  In these paragraphs, JESUS refers to the courageous testimony of faith.  We have to speak the truth without worrying about what people will think of us.  Here hypocrisy is attributed to those who are always trying to be diplomatic, and whose primary concern is not to lose friends.

Do not fear: We are cowards and JESUS is aware of this.  HE has already said, "Do not fear," when HE invited us not to look for security in money.  Now, dealing with the fear of repression, HE adds, "If you cannot free yourselves from cowardice, consider where the greater threat comes from, from GOD or people?"

This is the only time JESUS refers to "fear of GOD."  When the Old Testament mentioned fear of GOD, it generally meant giving due respect to GOD.  Respect is far from fear.  Respect is an attitude proper to a free person.  GOD does not threaten to throw us into hell; rather HE reminds us that to lose HIM is to lose ourselves also, and this is hell.)  

On-Site

Orchestra Of Praise To GOD, King Of The World

"Sing to YAHWEH a new song, for HE has done wonders; HIS right hand, HIS holy arm, has won victory for HIM.

YAHWEH has shown HIS salvation, revealing HIS justice to the nations.

HE has not forgotten HIS love, nor HIS faithfulness to Israel.  The farthest ends of the earth all have seen GOD's saving power.

All you lands, make a joyful noise to YAHWEH, break into song and sing praise, with melody of the lyre and with music of the harp.

With trumpet blast and sound of the horn, rejoice before the King, YAHWEH!"

- Psalm 98:1. 2-3. 3-4. 5-6

(Our LORD founded the kingdom of GOD on earth; and yet we pray: 'YOUR kingdom come.'  The work of our redemption has been accomplished, but we still pray for this salvation, to be perfected throughout the world: GOD has come; but we look for HIS final coming, to take possession of HIS kingdom.

Sing to the LORD a new song.  Humanity has found the way to liberation and salvation.  It is in the coming of CHRIST, GOD-made-man and in HIS resurrection.

For the LORD came down to earth, showed us HIS love and also by HIS death and resurrection, the path to eternal salvation.)

On-Site  

Two Ways Of Living

"Blessed is the man 

who does not go where the wicked gather,

or stand in the way of sinners,

or sit where the scoffers sit!

Instead, he finds delight in the law of YAHWEH

and meditates day and night 

on HIS commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook

producing its fruit in due season,

its leaves never withering.

Everything he does is a success.

But it is different with the wicked.

They are like chaff

driven away by the wind.

For YAHWEH knows the way of the righteous

but cuts off the way of the wicked."

- Psalm 1:1-2. 3. 4. 6

(The sharp contrast between the virtuous and the wicked is characteristic of the Hebrew thought and its uncompromising literary expression.  The psalmist was conscious of the mixture of good and bad in himself and in others around him.  As St. Paul said much later--and he spoke for everyone--'I can want to do what is right, but I am unable to do it' [Romans 7:18].  Aware of this tension in ourselves, we recite this psalm with a feeling of hypocrisy.  This is no proclamation of one's own virtue but a constant self-reminder that we all have a choice.  We may never reach the extremes either of virtue or of vice, but we are at every moment making for one or the other.  It is salutary to remind ourselves what the end of each road is.  It is better still to remember that we have a powerful companion along the virtuous road, but along the wicked one, we are alone.) 

On-Site

Woe To You, Pharisees!

"As JESUS was speaking, a Pharisee asked HIM to have a meal with him.  So HE went and sat at table.  The Pharisee then wondered why JESUS did not first wash HIS hands before dinner.  But the LORD said to him, 'So then, you Pharisees, you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside yourselves you are full of greed and evil.  Fools!  HE who made the outside, also made the inside.  But according to you, by the mere giving of alms everything is made clean'." - Luke 11:37-41  

(The Bible does not demand these ritual purifications that Mark also mentions in 7:3, but the teachers of JESUS' time insisted they were necessary.  JESUS rebels against these new religious obligations.  Why do they not pay more attention to inner purification?

Entering the New Covenant is a free gift from GOD.  It is also a gift from GOD to possess a good knowledge of Christian doctrine, or exercise a special ministry in the Church, or belong to a Christian group committed for their faith.  Nevertheless, there is always the danger to behave as an elite group, thus losing the true humility that should lead us to occupy the last places, where we really should be.) 

On-Site

"People Of The Present Time Are Troubled People."

"As the crowd increased, JESUS spoke the following words: 'People of the present time are troubled people.  They ask for a sign, but no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah.  As Jonah became a sign for the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be a sign for this generation.  The Queen of the South will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and here, there is greater than Solomon.  The people of Nineveh will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for Jonah's preaching made them turn from their sins, and here, there is greater than Jonah." - Luke 11:29-32 

(The Ninevites, being sinners, received no other divine sign than the coming of Jonah, who invited them to repent.  JESUS' contemporaries believe they are "good" because they belong to the people of GOD, and they do not realize that the hour has come for them to repent as well.

The people of Nineveh will rise up with these people and accuse them.  JESUS again uses the traditional image of collective judgment where each one excuses himself by pointing out that others have done worse.  This image retains a deep truth: all that GOD has given to each one of us should produce fruits for all humanity.)

On-Site