One of my favorite characteristics of God is that He loves surprises. I realize that surprises are not everyone’s thing (control freaks anonymous!!), but I truly love them: surprise parties, surprise proposals, surprise visits, surprise gifts, surprise letters in the mail, etc. Surprises involve thoughtfulness and thoughtfulness is something that always touches my heart in a special way. You really have to keep the person you are planning to surprise at the forefront of your mind. You have to anticipate how they will receive the surprise, and the surprise must be very specifically tailored for them according to how well you know their hearts. Thoughtful gift giving requires the same finger on the pulse of the receiver. Surprise proposals definitely have an element of anticipating an answer with a certain confidence that the answer will be yes. A readiness for that surprise is required, but never guaranteed. Surprise letters in the mail always arrive on the right day, don’t they? And aren’t surprise visits, especially from far away places, just so much fun to plan and witness? So much planning and scheming goes into every kind of surprise. Anticipation, waiting, and then the famous “shushing”: “Shhhhhh! They’re coming! Everyone hide!” All this coordinating touches my heart because it requires a tender love for the person you are hoping to surprise. I just came off of a retreat weekend where literally every kind of surprise mentioned above happened. We threw about 5 different surprise parties, there were surprise letters, surprise visits and gifts, and yes, even a surprise proposal!! The recipients of said surprises had all the warm and fuzziness that come along with the thoughtfulness of a God who is simply madly in love with us. I love surprises!!
Everyone knows that one cannot be late for a surprise party or it ruins the whole thing right? Timing is everything and that is the theme of today’s gospel. We need to be ready to receive Jesus at all times. He shows up to party, to propose, to gift, to visit, and to love letter us in all kinds of unexpected ways and if we are not ready, we will miss the opportunity to receive Him. We need thoughtful planning in order to anticipate the thoughtful planning of His presence. We need to know Him intimately so that we can invite His friends and family to the party. We need to understand His whereabouts and His workings to be able to meet Him when He arrives on the scene. We need to “shush” ourselves often to hear when He is coming or when He speaks to us. And finally in true guest of honor protocol, we need to serve Him, fawn over Him, celebrate Him, bring Him gifts, and make sure that His every wish comes true. It is so much fun to cater to our loved ones in a surprise party situation isn’t it? We love love love “pulling it off” and making it all about them. So while God is busy thoughtfully planning wonderful surprises to capture our hearts, we can also thoughtfully anticipate His faithful surprise showing ups in our lives. How fun is that?
I encourage each of us to extra thoughtfulness today. Look for Jesus throughout your day and be ready to receive Him in whatever capacity He shows up. If you find yourself distracted, remember, “Shhhhhh! He’s coming!” Cater to Him by loving His friends and family. Celebrate His life and make today all about Him. If we pull this off, I think it is we who will be pleasantly surprised by the warm and fuzziness that comes with serving Him. It is well with my soul.
Reading 1 ROM 6:12-18
Brothers and sisters:
Sin must not reign over your mortal bodies
so that you obey their desires.
And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin
as weapons for wickedness,
but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life
and the parts of your bodies to God
as weapons for righteousness.
For sin is not to have any power over you,
since you are not under the law but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law
but under grace?
Of course not!
Do you not know that if you present yourselves
to someone as obedient slaves,
you are slaves of the one you obey,
either of sin, which leads to death,
or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin,
you have become obedient from the heart
to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted.
Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.
Sin must not reign over your mortal bodies
so that you obey their desires.
And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin
as weapons for wickedness,
but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life
and the parts of your bodies to God
as weapons for righteousness.
For sin is not to have any power over you,
since you are not under the law but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law
but under grace?
Of course not!
Do you not know that if you present yourselves
to someone as obedient slaves,
you are slaves of the one you obey,
either of sin, which leads to death,
or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin,
you have become obedient from the heart
to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted.
Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.
Responsorial Psalm PS 124:1B-3, 4-6, 7-8
R.(8a) Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Had not the LORD been with us,
let Israel say, had not the LORD been with us–
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive;
When their fury was inflamed against us.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept the raging waters.
Blessed be the LORD, who did not leave us
a prey to their teeth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
We were rescued like a bird
from the fowlers' snare;
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Had not the LORD been with us,
let Israel say, had not the LORD been with us–
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive;
When their fury was inflamed against us.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept the raging waters.
Blessed be the LORD, who did not leave us
a prey to their teeth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
We were rescued like a bird
from the fowlers' snare;
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Alleluia MT 24:42A, 44
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stay awake!
For you do not know when the Son of Man will come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stay awake!
For you do not know when the Son of Man will come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel LK 12:39-48
Jesus said to his disciples:
"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 the servant 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,
"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 the servant 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."
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