Meditation for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time C: “Keep your lamps burning” – Vatican News

Readings: Wis 18, 6-9; Ps 32 (33), 1.12, 18-19,20.22; Heb 11, 1-2.8-19; Lk 12, 32-48

The Bible readings of this 19e Sundays in Ordinary Time invite us to ponder how we wait for God’s promises. In life, it is often difficult for us to wait and hope without tangible signs of the culmination of a promise, a project or a better life. But in this Sunday’s Gospel, the Lord recommends three indispensable attitudes: watch, be ready and remain in service. Indeed, by writing these pages of the Gospel, Saint Luke was addressing Christians who were confronted with a doubt. The latter awaited the return of Christ in his glory to take them into his Kingdom. But time passed, and there was no reassuring sign of Christ’s return. And they wondered if they hadn’t been deceived.

Today, the promise of Christ’s return no longer seems to be a particular concern as in the first centuries of the Church. But in life, everyone experiences expectation. And waiting can sometimes become very long. Long-awaited happiness and love almost never come. The peace and friendship desired in our human relations are slow to be established. The long-awaited mutual understanding and reconciliation are struggling to materialize. Wounds are slow to heal and recovery is still pending. Waiting can sometimes become sad, dark and even agonizing; so that “many people wonder: who will make us see happiness”? (Ps 4, 6). The night of waiting never ends. We end up getting tired and resigning ourselves; and life becomes an endless exercise in patience.

Dear brothers and sisters, on this Sunday the Lord asks us to stay awake and keep our lamps burning. But what does this mean for us today? The lighted lamp is indeed our faith, symbolized by the candle we received on the day of our baptism. It must remain lit, this lamp. And our faith must remain alive and active despite the heaviness of the expectation. We are called today to remain firm in faith and joyful in our hope so as not to be discouraged, even if things are slow in coming to fruition. In the book of Wisdom we see how faith sustained the assurance of the Fathers despite the ordeal of the night of Easter deliverance. And the letter to the Hebrews presents us with the irresistible faith of Abraham who left his country, obeying the call and the promise of God.

Dear brothers and sisters, “faith is a way of possessing what one hopes for, a way of knowing realities which one does not yet see” (Heb 11, 1). What we expect in faith and prayer, we must believe is already given to us. Even today, Christ reassures us by giving us a word of hope and courage: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has seen fit to give you the Kingdom” (Lk, 12, 32). This kingdom of peace and joy is thus an acquired fact, even if the appearances of our life do not give the air of it. From now on, our duty is not to get tired; but to remain in service dress. Armed with our faith and our hope, we must no longer allow ourselves to be distracted by the trials of life. Because we are created to be happy and we must always strive towards this goal.

On this Sunday, let us pray that we know how to use the goods that the Lord places at our disposal, always remaining in service dress. Lord, may your love be with us, as our hope is in you.