The Unknown Day and Hour

Today's Reflections

The Unknown Day and Hour 

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Mt 24:42-51

[Jesus said to his disciples,] ⁴²“Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. ⁴³Be 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. ⁴⁴So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

⁴⁵“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? ⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. ⁴⁷Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. ⁴⁸But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’ ⁴⁹and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, ⁵⁰the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour ⁵¹and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

Reflection:

You do not know on which day your Lord will come. The Gospel speaks of the sudden coming of Jesus and so of the need to be vigilant. To be vigilant is to be attentive and watchful, and it demands patience and perseverance.

To wait for the Lord is to stay focused on God’s commandments, being faithful, keeping ourselves from being led astray by erroneous teachings or false prophets, or distracted by the lure of riches and pleasures. As we wait for Jesus, we must be attentive to his word and more involved in his works.

To work for Jesus is not to eat and drink but to be in charge of his household. We must shake off our complacency and our carefree ways and keep ourselves busy for the Lord, busy for his works. We must continue how Jesus lived and share what Jesus did.

Are we watchful of God’s intervention in our life?

How do we wait and work for the Lord?