Watching And Waiting

A Reflection on the Gospel for August 11th, 2019:
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

LUKE 12:32-48

32 "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 35 "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an unexpected hour." 41 Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?" 42 And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.45 But if that servant says to himself, `My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master's will, but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall receive a severe beating. 48 But he who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, shall receive a light beating. Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more.

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When I was a kid, my family spent our summers at my grandmother’s cottage on a lake on Nova Scotia’s eastern shore. I have wonderful memories of bare feet, bathing suits, rowboats, wet towels, water fights, bunk beds and campfires. We had friends from the US who came every summer to their cabin just across the lake (my mom used to say that our summer didn’t start until they arrived). In those days before the internet, we usually knew roughly which day they would come, but nothing more specific than that. I remember being so impatient, sitting in the camp window playing solitaire and watching the space through the trees across the lake where I knew I’d see their car drive up to their cabin. The anticipation was palpable. When they finally arrived, we’d all run across our lawns down to the wharves, waving and jumping into our little rowboats to meet halfway across the lake. Such excitement! The joy of being reunited for another fun summer adventure was worth the wait.


My experiences of seeing someone again whom I’ve loved and dearly missed are a dim reflection of the actual encounter with Love Personified. His majesty over all the earth adds an element of trembling awe to our human excitement and joy that makes meeting Jesus almost unfathomable. The anticipation of an earthly reunion with someone, as joyful as it might be, is still fleeting and doesn’t always continue to motivate us toward the good of the other. The truth is, we don’t know when Jesus is going to turn up, and when we are looking down, self-consumed and full of angst,  we might miss Him. The truth is, I miss Him arriving in my life all the time. I pretend not to see opportunities to love because I’m afraid. I give in to my own wants over someone else’s needs. I’m consumed by perfectionism rather than joy. The truth is, He comes and knocks all the time… am I truly excitedly waiting for Him?

"The truth is, He comes and knocks all the time… am I truly excitedly waiting for Him? "

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It is a fine balance, this fear of the Lord. To be obedient to Love and Mercy is to bravely be who He wants me to be, which is fully who He made me to be. To act, motivated only by His pure love for the other, is a formidable challenge. Thanks be to God for His Spirit, which breathes into us motivation toward what is good, convicts us of our failings, and draws us nearer to one another and ultimately to Him. Thanks be to God for my brothers and sisters in Christ, who help set an example and keep drawing me back to the path. Thanks be to God for His Church, where the sacraments constantly provide us with what we, in our humanity, need in order to be united with Jesus. 
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Saint Teresa of Avila described in her autobiography, her experience of ecstasy in an encounter with an angel of God: “The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God.” (Saint Teresa of Avila. The Life of Teresa of Jesus (1515-1582))


Let us pray:
Lord, help us to always be motivated toward the good, in joyful expectation of the promise of complete, ecstatic union with You.


Lindsay Elford

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