REFLECTIONS TODAY Using the Jewish apocalyptic imagery, Jesus speaks of the final judgment often referred to as the Day of the Lord. As the glorious Son of Man, Jesus will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night, and will ask for an accounting from the “servants” — people to whom stewardship has been given over the household of God. Being awake does not mean looking up at the sky, waiting for the Master’s return, but being faithful and prudent in exercising stewardship, having one’s attention on one’s duty. In Paul’s analogy, being asleep is “getting drunk” through a life of debauchery, while being vigilant and awake means being sober through a life of faith, love, and hope (1 Thes 5:6-8). Pope Francis calls especially consecrated persons to stay awake and to “wake up the world”: “I am counting on you ‘to wake up the world’ since the distinctive sign of consecrated life is prophecy. Prophets receive from God the ability to scrutinize the times in which they live and to interpret events: they are like sentinels who keep watch in the night and sense the coming of the dawn (cf Is 21:11-12). Prophets tend to be on the side of the poor and the powerless, for they know that God himself is on their side” (Apostolic Letter to All Consecrated People, 2).

Gospel • Matthew 24:42-51

Jesus said to his disciples: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be 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. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. “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. Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” St. Pauls, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.