Today's Mass Readings

The readings today carry the themes of expectation and also joy. There is the expectation of Christ’s return and the joy of being found worthy when that return occurs. Expectation is something that we live with on a daily basis, but it is the expectation of simple things: the coffee pot to finish making coffee, the beginning of the school year, or – more significantly – the birth of a child. All of these instances can bring toe-tapping impatience. The expectation of Christ’s coming is a slightly different kind of expectation. The end often seems far away, a distant possibility, and we try to ignore our own mortality sometimes. Like the servant in Jesus’ story, we are inclined to take advantage of the situation, to enjoy worldly pleasures while we can. However, this represents, as Paul says to the Thessalonians, “deficiencies of your faith” in need of remedy.

How do we remedy this deficiency? How do we grow in anticipation of heavenly life while we are caught up in this earthly existence? The first reading and the psalm both provide us with insight. We pray, “Fill us with your love, Lord, and we will sing for joy!” We can acknowledge that we are lacking – we need God’s love within us, and that will bring true joy, the joy of expectation of what lies ahead! Hence Paul prays that the Lord will increase the Thessalonians’ love and strengthen their hearts so they will be holy when
that important time comes.

We can expect that we will often fail in Christian life, but failure is redeemable when it allows us to move forward in expectation of what really matters. Let us pray that the Lord will fill us with his love such that we may be awake, like the faithful servant, eager for his Master’s return.