First Reading: 1Thes 3:7-13; Psalm: 90. R. v. 14; Gospel: Mt 24:42-51

STAYING VIGILANT

BY FR VALENTINE NNAMDI EGBUONU, MSP

Life can be so demanding and this is why our world is so busy. Everyone is working so hard to have enough to take care of their needs. At each point in life, there are always demands and expectations we hope to meet. And this demands and expectations are insatiable; they can never be enough and we can never exhaust them. Because of these needs of life and our unrelenting drive to satisfy them, we are often so blind to the shortness of life. We may not even know how unprepared we are until we are suddenly diagnosed of a terminal illness or find ourselves in a critical condition that incapacitates us. And all of a sudden, the end of everything becomes so obvious.

When Jesus asked us to ‘Watch,’ for we do not know on what day the Lord is coming; he obviously knew how very easy we can get caught up in the busyness of life. The pleasures and demands of life is the stealthy thief of time. It can so consume us that we begin to neglect the things that really matters. Jesus reminds us today that we are all stewards entrusted with the responsibility to love and serve one another. And happy is that steward when his master returns and finds him/her so doing.

So, however busy we are with the demands of life; we should never be careless with our stewardship to love and serve one another. And this kind of love cannot be possible if we do not love and obey God from whom we draw the love we extend to others. We don’t have to wait for tomorrow to do this; for tomorrow is not certain and may never come. So, we have to be spiritually watchful and faithful to our Christian commitment everyday of our life in order not to be taken unawares. For the unexpected can suddenly happen and then we may discover that it is too late to start on a clean slate. The greatest mistake we can make in life is to build our schedule outside God instead of building our schedule around God. When we put God first; we can never be behind.  

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Lord Jesus, grant us the grace to be vigilant and faithful stewards as we await your coming. Amen.