Sisters and brothers, today is the first day of the season of Advent. Some people did not give up on us but stayed awake,Ĭonfident that we would return at an hour they did not expect. Lord, we thank you that when we were foolish, irresponsible or stubborn, Never despairing because you will show yourself at an hour we do not expect. Lord, help us, in our search for truth, to stay awake,īecause at any time we might find that our house has been broken into, “The quest for truth is an everlasting process from which civilised people never graduate.” …President Hassanali, Trinidad Divali, 1989 Like people who know that at some hour they do not expect Lord, we pray today for those who are striving for peace “Nobody said that the search for a lasting peace, a peace that is based on justice, would be easy, but that does not mean that we should not go on trying.” …Bishop Fortich of the Philippines Like a householder who knows that there are burglarsĪlways hovering around and they can break through the wall of his house You had sent us Jesus to teach us that we must stay awake, Then one day trouble appeared again and the community was torn apart. We thought that we had everything under control. Lord, things were going well in our church community. Presuming to pass judgement on who is fit to enter your kingdom,Īs if we could look at two men working in the fieldsĪnd decide which will be taken and which one left,Īnd decide which will be taken and which one left. Lord, forgive us, church people, that we usurp your authority, He will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the secret intentions of our hearts.” …1 Cor 4:5 “There must be no passing of premature judgement.

Lord, into your hands we commend ourselves. One is taken and one left of two women at the millstone grinding, How true it is that in life two men are working the fields, – in marriage, at work, in health, in spiritual growth. Today, years after, some of us have done well and others have not With members of our family, our friends at school. We remember when we were starting on our careers, We recognise now that it was a coming of the Son of Man,Ī moment when you showed us how vulnerable we are,īut also when we felt your presence with us. We too suspected nothing till this terrible flood came and swept all away. Right up to the day when Noah went into the ark. – eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, We were like people in the days before the Flood – there was a sudden death in the family. – we fell again into an evil habit we thought we had finished with – we were betrayed by a spouse or a friend Lord, we remember a time in our lives when disaster struck: Your meditation will help you feel for this image of God’s unexpected coming. Enter into the parable as it stands, in particular the metaphor of the burglar who breaks through the wall of the house. Verse 43 is a parable which you should take on its own. In your meditation be faithful to the exact text. 42 and ‘an hour you do not expect’ in vs. The stress is slightly different in each too, ‘you do not know’ in vs.

Verses 42 and 44 are two exhortations of Jesus they are nearly identical although the metaphor in each is slightly different – ‘stay awake’ in vs. Be creative in interpreting the meaning of ‘taken’ and ‘left’, starting of course from your experience. Verses 40 and 41 are another description of the coming but the point here is quite different: it is the indiscriminate way in which some are taken and some left. He is stressing only the suddenness and unexpectedness of the coming. It is not that the people were bad or immoral – that is not the point Jesus is making. Make sure you get the precise point of the teaching. Verses 37 to 39 describe what happens ‘when the Son of Man comes’, the story of the Flood being the model. However, each teaching forms a unit on its own, so begin by identifying which section you want to meditate on. The passage comprises several teachings of Jesus, all on the general theme of waiting.

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