Thursday, August 25, 2011 St. Louis IX of France, King, Patron of the Third Order (Memorial)
by Lorenz S. Centino, Jr.
Matthew 24: 42 - 51
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42 | Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. |
43 | But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. |
44 | Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. |
45 | "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? |
46 | Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. |
47 | Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. |
48 | But if that wicked servant says to himself, `My master is delayed,' |
49 | and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, |
50 | the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, |
51 | and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. |
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:
A BLESSED THURSDAY TO ALL!!!
Insecurity for one’s security is making many of us get so stressed out. The ever growing cases of “dengue-victims” flooding our hospitals each day lead parents to be in a panic mode in securing their children from the bites of mosquitoes that cause the life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever. The family of our OFWs who are working in Libya or Syria, or any other war-stricken countries, are so worried and anxious for the security of their loved ones abroad. Any threat to life naturally cause one to feel afraid, nervous, and defensive by taking measures that protect oneself from any risk and danger of losing one’s life. In fact, the television programs that we are watching each day are always interrupted with many advertisements that subliminally suggest prospective consumers to buy products that enhance the longetivity and quality of life. The message of all these is to indicate that death is something one must avoid at all cost.
The Gospel today reminds us of the coming of death like that of a thief that comes without prior notice. That is why when the threat of death is within the horizon of one’s consciousness, or even imagination, one normally begins to take guard and protection. However, there are many among us who live without the thought that death would come anytime soon. This is not so because they are not afraid to die, and therefore ready to die anytime, but rather it is so much that they thought they are so strong and well secured from any danger or any threat of dying. And so many engaged in many self-indulgent activities and pursue leisure-driven undertakings to enjoy fully the blessing of life by doing anything that satisfy their need for pleasure, forgetting the real preparation to meet death when it will come unexpectedly.
But what kind of preparation is to be taken? Is it a preparation to delay death? Is it to fight or struggle against death to take over one’s life? Is it to accept death with blind resignation and passive submission to the inevitability of death?
The kind of preparation befitting a Christian is performing FAITHFULLY the task of a good SERVANT of the master who has gone but will be coming back at an indefinite time. In the Gospel today, Jesus makes a contrast between the faithful and wise servant with that of the wicked servant. Jesus reminds us today that we are just STEWARDS of what we HAVE. The Master who gives us everything expects us to give an accounting of what he has given us upon his return. Everything and everyone that we have is given to us by God. Unlike the wicked steward who maltreated his co-servants and spends his time at his “happy-hour” drinking and feasting thinking that the master will be delayed in his return, God wants us to be the faithful and wise servant who fulfills his RESPONSIBILITIES in the absence of his master and make use of his time doing what will PLEASE his master upon his return. Death will come anytime. When it comes, the Lord will ask us to give an account of what we do with our lives.
The Gospel today challenges us then to have a WATCHFULL HEART whether we become a good servant or not of our Master who is coming back again in an indefinite time. To be watchful is to become a GOOD STEWARD of the TREASURE God has given us. It must be protected from the thief whose single interest is to take us away from God. Let us be wary and on the guard at all times from Satan’s snares and traps that will make us get lost into the temptation of worldly pleasure and satisfaction. Rather, let us hold on to the treasures of the Kingdom of God that the Lord asks us to keep and multiply. These are the treasures of RIGHTEOUSNESS and JUSTICE. To be JUST is to promote and establish HARMONIOUS RELATIONSHIP with OTHERS (including the entire cosmos). To be RIGHTEOUS is to have FEAR of the LORD, always doing what is RIGHT by being OBEDIENT to God’s will.
For your personal comments, you can reach me through this email: sanolorenz@yahoo.com
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