Word to the Wise
Thursday, August 27, 2015 - Thursday in the 21th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Thess 3:7-13 and Matt 24:42-51]"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 his master on his arrival finds doing so." [Matthew]
AUGUST 27 ST. MONICA [mother of St. Augustine]
There is an old story that Jesus comes back to a large metropolitan diocese and starts walking up the street toward the archbishop's office. A secretary, looking out the window, sees Jesus and runs to the archbishop with the news and says, "What shall we do?" The archbishop calls Rome and tells some official the news and asks, "What shall we do?" The official calls the Pope and asks, "What shall they do?" The Pope says, "Tell them I said to look busy!"
It is clear that the earliest Christian communities expected Jesus to return as he promised and to do it very soon. They were undergoing persecution and other trials and it seemed to them like their world was coming to an end! St. Paul's letters to the Thessalonians show that concern, as does the passage today from the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew responds to that concern with a saying from Jesus that says, "Keep on living the life of faith and compassion that I taught you and that will guarantee that you will be prepared. But the date of my return has not been set." No, it hasn't, or at least hasn't been revealed to us 2000+ years later. The challenge remains to be faithful and compassionate. Doing that day to day for a lifetime will put us in the same room with all the "faithful and prudent servants" in the Communion of Saints. AMEN
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