Tuesday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time

Memorial of Sts. John de Brebeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests and Martyrs, and Companions

Luke 12:35-38

Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.”

First of all, I want to say that my reflections are personal reflections:  I do not speak for the Catholic Church, or any other religious organization, only myself.  My hope is that this reflection will be of some help to anyone who chooses to read it.

The two things that struck me about this passage are: 1) what the master does; 2) what happens to those who are vigilant during the second or third watch.

When the master comes and finds the servants alert and waiting for his arrival, he immediately treats them as he himself would be treated.  This is directly related to what Jesus did for the Apostles at the Last Supper, and I believe it is how God relates to us.  God does not “lord” his power over us; on the contrary, he is waiting for the opportunity to be of service to us, to help us, to heal us, to feed our hungry souls with his life-giving grace.  God is waiting to fill our lives with His peace and love.

I think it is helpful to know that that the second and third watches were based upon the Roman system of military watches.  The second watch was from 9 pm until midnight, and the third watch was from midnight until 3 am.  The servants who were served by the master were discovered by the master during the first watch, from sundown until 9 pm.  At this time, there would still have been food available, and so the master would have been able to wait on the servants at table.

However, for those servants who were discovered by the master at the second or third watches, there would have been no food available during those times.  What does Jesus say about these servants?  They are “blessed,” but the master does not wait upon them, as he would have if he had arrived during the first watch.  What does this mean?

I think it means that the servants who were waited upon by the master received their blessing in a concrete way.  The servants who were found to be vigilant at a later time did not receive this concrete blessing that the first servants received; instead, they received another blessing.  The blessing for these servants is treasure in heaven (Mt. 6:20).  These servants were vigilant, even at a time of day when they knew that they would receive nothing concrete (i.e., a sumptuous meal), in return.

And so it is with us.  When we are younger, we expect to receive concrete things--toys, games, dolls, meals at restaurants, movies, etc.—when we do something good.  As young adults, we tend to reward ourselves for good behavior or for accomplishing some goal, and there is nothing wrong with this.  It’s a good practice.  As we grow older and more mature in the Holy Spirit, we begin to desire more the gifts of the Holy Spirit and we begin to desire less the material things that the world has to offer.

If we mature in the Spirit during the second and third “watches” of our lives, our attention is more focused on the Lord, on His will and His love for us.  By the grace of God, our desire is to be more vigilant, so that we may serve Him readily when He calls us, no  matter what the hour.  In so doing, we will be blessed with heavenly treasure.