Commentary
Be Vigilant at All Times
In this new liturgical year – Year C, the Sunday Gospel is
often taken from the Gospel According to Luke.
However, we begin the liturgical year not at the beginning,
but near the end of the Gospel with a reading from chapter 21, out of 24
chapters, of Luke.
Advent begins with the call for us to be ready for the
return of the Messiah at the end of time, not his first coming at
Bethlehem. That will come in the second
half of Advent.
Luke wrote to Gentile Christians (not of Jewish origin) probably
at the end of the first century. The
earlier part of Chapter 21 records Jesus’ prophecy of what would happen to
Jerusalem (21: 20-24). Luke’s readers
knew what had happened to the country of the Jews and of the Jerusalem temple [1] . They
experienced Jesus’ words fulfilled.
Jesus also warned his disciples of the persecution they will
endure because of his name (21: 12-19).
Luke's readers had also heard the stories of what happened to Jesus’
disciples, who failed to heed his warnings.
They were not “vigilant at all times” and failed to “pray” at the hour
of Jesus.
Jesus’ warnings must have been very real for them: “Beware
that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the
anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.”
It has been 2,000 years since Jesus spoke these words.
Are we better at paying attention to his warning?
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[1] Francis J. Moloney, This is the
Gospel of the Lord – Year C. Homebush, NSW, Australia: St. Paul Publications,
1991; p. 48.
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