At an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come

Wis 18,6-9; Ps 32; Heb 11,1-2.8-9; Lk 12,32-48
11 AUGUST

Man’s life has only one goal to achieve: eternal bliss in the kingdom of our Father. For this end to be realized, the heavenly Father has indicated every man the way, which is his Word, his will and his Gospel and has assigned a determined time. St. Paul says that time is short. Not only is it short. Nobody knows how long or short his is. Every moment could be the one that marks the passage to eternity. This moment has been hidden from every man.

I tell you, brothers, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away (1Cor 7, 29-31).

Baruch’s book reveals to us another precious truth over time. The man is the one who has the breath on loan without any deadline or condition. Every moment is the right one. Jesus is teaching this truth to those who follow him. What is the use of making land our stable and lasting home, as if it were eternal? A moment before, we are. A moment later, we are not. Since eternal bliss is the fruit of our good works, whoever wants an eternity of great, great glory must abound in every good work. Jesus wants everyone to use this land only as strictly necessary. The rest must be given in alms. Those who live on love on earth will be clothed in the heavens of glory, joy and great bliss. That of Jesus is a speech of very pure faith.

Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute (the) food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that 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 unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.

Since today we no longer believe in damnation or eternal perdition, the invitation to be prepared falls. What is the use of being vigilant, being careful? Nothing. Death comes. The doors of eternity open. Eternity coincides with Paradise. Three quarters of the Gospel thus disappear, they are erased. How does the other quarter disappear? By attesting us and declaring that Paradise is for everyone and that there is no greater or smaller bliss, it is useless to lose oneself in works of charity or almsgiving. Whether they are done or not, bliss is the same. There is no difference in glory. Today as on earth there must be no difference of any kind between man and man, so even in Paradise there must be no difference. Having us also abolished every difference between the true God and the gods who are not live and true God, what is the use of keeping the eternal difference? Yet in God there is a difference and there is also hell.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, give us a strong and temperate faith in every word of Jesus.