With Opened Bible

“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.” (Luke 12:35)

This Sunday's first reading and Gospel passage come together to invite us to be ready to welcome the Master upon His return. The first reading begins with the idea of the night of the Jewish Passover. What happened that night?

According to the Book of Exodus (the book of passage), the Lord (through the Angel of Destruction) passed through the midst of Egypt, took the lives of all the Egyptian firstborn and their livestock, but spared the houses of Israel (Exodus 12:12, 27-30). It is the night of the Exodus from Egypt, when freedom was offered to all those who lived in the chains of servitude. On that night, there was also a meal to be shared. But this meal had its own rules: "This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girded, sandals on your feet, and your staff in hand, you will eat it in a hurry. It is the LORD's Passover." (Exodus 12:11)

In the Gospel, Jesus refers to this attitude of always being ready using his own words: "Gird your loins and light your lampstand be like servants who await their Master's return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks."

The mission of the servant requires that he always be in service attire, always ready to do what he has been called to do. The night of our Passover will come one day, and we must be prepared to go through it and, at the same time, receive the reward of faithful servants. "Blessed are those servants whom the Master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at the table, and proceed to wait on them." (Luke 12:37)

Every Eucharistic celebration reminds us that the night of our Passover will one day arrive. We don't need to know the exact time or the day. But we must be ready always and everywhere. To be prepared and vigilant in service: such is the will of the Master.