BEING SIMILAR TO THOSE WHO WAIT FOR THEIR MASTER WHEN HE RETURNS FROM THE WEDDING

Jesus' disciples live on earth, But like pilgrims, while their residence is in the skies. We are, therefore, called to an wait that many times exceeds us.

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«The night [of liberation] it was foretold to our fathers, so that they had courage".

These are the opening words of the first reading this Sunday, taken from the Book of Wisdom, and they prepare well for listening to the Gospel passage reported below:

"During that time, Jesus told his disciples: "Do not fear, small flock, because it pleased your Father to give you the Kingdom. Sell ​​what you own and give it as alms; make bags that don't age, a safe treasure in the heavens, where the thief does not reach and the woodworm does not consume. Because, where is your treasure, your heart will also be there. Be ready, with their robes tight at their sides and their lamps lit; be like those who wait for their master when he returns from the wedding, so that, when he comes and knocks, let them open immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds still awake upon his return; verily I tell you, he will tighten his clothes around his waist, he will have them sit at the table and come to serve them. What if, arriving in the middle of the night or before dawn, he will find them like this, lucky them! Try to understand this: if the master of the house knew at what time the thief was coming, he wouldn't let his house be broken into. You too get ready because, in the hour you don't imagine, the Son of man is coming". Then Peter said: "Man, you say this parable for us or even for everyone?”. The Lord replied: “Who then is the trusted and prudent administrator, that the master will put in charge of his servants to give the food ration in due time? Blessed is that servant who is the master, arriving, will find himself acting like this. Truly I tell you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that servant said in his heart: “My master is late in coming.", and began to beat the male and female servants, to eat, to drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will arrive on a day when he doesn't expect it and at an hour he doesn't know, he will punish him severely and inflict on him the fate that infidels deserve. The servant who, knowing the master's will, he will not have disposed or acted according to his will, he will receive many beatings; that instead of, not knowing her, he will have done things worthy of beatings, he will receive few. To anyone who was given a lot, much will be asked for; to whom men have committed much, much more will be required”» (LC 12,32-48).

The first three verses of today's Gospel (12,32-34) they make their own text, because they close an entire pericope dedicated to Jesus' teaching on the possession of material goods. They are His final invitation, which can only be grasped if one has in mind what was written just before in the Gospel, but not reported in today's liturgy, or the verses from the 22 al 31 of the chapter 12 by Luca. Those who follow instead, part of today's song (vv. 35-48), are to be considered as an exhortation to vigilance. They are a set of sentences, of images and small parables - the exegete Maggioni calls them: «mentioned parables» — which have a common denominator: the return of the "Son of man", that, as was said, requires vigilant waiting.

To specify this wait Jesus compares himself from time to time to a Lord (the gentleman, v. 36.37.43) returning from a banquet, he comes to the door and knocks, then reward the servants who remained awake by serving them at the table. Or a thief (the thief, v. 39) who arrives at an hour that the owner of the house (the host) disavows. Or again to that Lord who promotes a trustworthy and prudent administrator with responsibility (the faithful steward, the wise one, v. 42). All these images finally, Jesus reveals to us, they fit the figure of that «Son of man [that] he will come at an hour you don't think" (v. 40).

Being attentive and vigilant at the cost of losing sleep is crucial, but who are those who wait? In the passage Jesus speaks of servants and administrators, but everywhere in the text the people called to supervise are indicated with the second person plural, as if to include both the disciples who then heard the Lord, both contemporary listeners or readers of the Gospel, so we too: "you be ready" (v. 35); «you must be similar to…» (v. 36); "get ready" (v. 40). Finally, the answer given to Peter who had asked emerges: «You are telling this parable for us or even for everyone?». The Lord, revealing a ranking of responsibility while waiting, says to him: "To whom much is given, much will be asked for; to whom men have committed much, It will ask the more ". In this way it is clarified that if the recipients of the teaching, all in all, they are all believers, However, the responsibility of the leaders of the Christian community to whom Jesus dedicates a specific parable stands out.

Let the discussion be addressed to the Church and its leaders is clear from the terms used, which refer to a precise space-time context, be it the house, of the night or of the extended time of waiting. Jesus speaks of "girded sides" (v.34), while the word "house" is explicitly mentioned and then there is the night because of the "lit lamps" (v.35) and of the "second and third watches" (v.38 in Greek). We have here a reference to the theme of the Exodus - the "girded loins" are an explicit citation of Is 12,11 — where the Easter celebration took place in the evening, at home and in the family (Is 12,3). The hasty departure from Egypt of the children of Israel which took place at night is evoked and lifting the edges of the long oriental dress and tying it at the hips with a belt made the journey easier. It seems that Jesus wants to urge the Church to set out, to make an exodus, but in reality it is a matter of proceeding in depth rather than in extension, a journey that makes us ready to receive the One who is about to arrive: the true path is made by the Lord who comes! The center of the announcement of the three parables is therefore the coming of the Lord and the name of the path to which the disciples are called is vigilance. In fact, Jesus has already given instructions so that it is not hindered by useless obstacles such as greed (LC 12,15), the worries (LC 12,22.26) and fears (LC 12,32) that occupy the heart and take away freedom.

The parable of the vigilant servants (vv. 36-38) seems to be the narrative version of a beatitude - "blessed are those servants" (v. 37); «lucky are they» (v.38) – which might sound like this: «Blessed are the vigilant servants, because the Lord himself will become their servant". The reversal of values ​​present in the Beatitudes is expressed here in the paradoxical figure of the master returning home, even late at night, e, finding his servants awake to open the door for him and welcome him to greet him, he himself begins to serve them. But this is the logic of Jesus which overturns worldly logic and which should apply in the Christian community: «Who is bigger? Who is at the table or who serves? Perhaps he is not the one who sits at the table? Yet I stand among you as one who serves" (LC 22,27).

A sense of imminence dominates the entire narrative for something that has yet to happen and yet implies anything but staticity or standing still. From everything we have seen above an indeterminacy seems to emerge, which however conveys the meaning of the Christian experience well. Jesus' disciples live on earth, But like pilgrims, while their residence is in the skies (Letter to Diognetus). We are, therefore, called to an expectation that often surpasses us. The problem of vigilance in these short parables, said another way, it is that of time, especially in everyday life, weekdays. Everyday, any weekday, if full of anticipation, it is "the day of the Lord". As in Luke's parable, every day is a good day to stay awake, keep the lamps lit and welcome the Son of man who will return. Thus he invited us to await the Collect prayer this Sunday: «Let not our lamp go out, because, vigilantly awaiting your hour, we are introduced by you into the eternal homeland".

From the Hermitage, 10 August 2025

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