Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
In our day, almost no one has personal servants though that was once commonplace, even in middle class America. Many households had at least one maid or a cook or a helper who stopped by a few days a week. These days, we have restaurants, cleaning agencies, daycares, and other institutions, to provide those kinds of services. These days, American workers don’t have “masters” but rather bosses and managers and managerial systems. I mention that because today’s gospel (Luke 12:39-48) definitely requires a bit of reflection and interpretation for our culture.
One way to get there may be reflection on a favorite film of mine - Julian Fellowes’ “Gosford Park,” a beautifully-crafted murder mystery set in the 1930s. The film depicts, in part, the class struggle between Britain’s declining upper class and its servant class. Following the horrors of World War I, Great Britain, like many other nations, wrestled with the question of whether “one needs the bother” of the servants, the pomp, the great houses, the kind of power that wealthier classes had displayed in the 19th and early 20th-centuries.
But it’s not only the wealthy who reflect on their roles; we also see servants reflecting on their own roles. One memorable scene shows the housekeeper of a great house saying, “What gift do you think a good servant has that sets them apart from the others? It’s the gift of anticipation.” In other words: the “advanced realization” of some event that might happen in the future, such as the need to turn down a bed when the master might be getting tired. Today’s gospel starkly depicts the punishments in store for people who fail to anticipate when the master will come.
Yet we rightly protest! How can we possibly be prepared to anticipate what even Jesus himself names as an “unexpected day and an unknown hour”?!?
Jesus does not leave us in a stew of anxiety about anticipating an unknown hour, though. He tells us very clearly what we must do: we must be like the “faithful and prudent steward” who gives out the food allocation at the appointed time - regardless of whether or not the master is there!
The point is that the steward is faithful to his role and call. Because he has been faithful, and continues to be faithful, he is already prepared for the master’s coming, even though he doesn’t know the day or the hour.
Our task, then, is to do what we have been called to do as disciples who magnify the Lord. We feed the hungry, we visit the sick and those in prison, we give comfort to the dying, and so on. We think, talk, and act like Jesus - not just once, but as often as we can. By remaining faithful to our tasks, we also cultivate the gift of anticipation.
Thus we are able to celebrate as Paul does in today’s first reading (Ephesians 3:2-12) and as the Psalmist does (Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6): that God’s grace is given even to us, and that we will “draw water from the fountain of salvation” with great joy!
Today, then, let us pray for the grace to receive the gift of anticipation!
- Jana Bennett