Daily Catholic Lectio. Tue, 22 October ’24. Servants who are served!

Daily Catholic Lectio

Tue, 22 October ‘24

XXIX Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday

Ephesians 2:12-22. Luke 12:35-38

Servants who are served!

“The servants who are prepared, awake, and waiting will be served by the master.”

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus, through a chain of metaphors, instructs his disciples to be like servants who are prepared, awake, and waiting. A house. A lot of servants. The master of the house goes for a wedding feast. The servants must open the doors for the master when he returns without notice. The master who returns home will serve the servants, making them sit at the table.

The chain of metaphors could be understood as follows: The house is the world; servants are Jesus’ disciples; the master of the house is Jesus; the wedding banquet is Jesus’ ascension into heaven; and the return of the master is the second coming of Jesus. Opening the doors means being qualified and ready. Being served by the master means being awarded by Jesus.

A few elements of the reading evoke our reflection:

(a) ‘Gird your loins,’ ‘keep the lamps burning,’ ‘wait at the door’

‘To gird one’s loins’ is an idiom to express one’s readiness or preparedness for a war or for an important activity. We have this expression in Job 38:3–7. The Lord invites Job to gird his loins and be ready for dialogue.

‘To keep the lamps burning’ – in Palestine during the time of Jesus, one of the prime duties of the servants of the house was to light the lamps at night and to ensure that they burned continuously. The house that is lit is filled with life, dynamism, and action. For darkness makes us immobile, while light makes us move. Lighted lamps also help identify others in the darkness.

‘To wait at the door’: Usually the doors are closed at night for fear of robbery. The servants will understand who is in front of the door from the knock that they hear. They would identify whether the one who is at the door is the master or a robber.

(b) Servants who are awake

To be awake means not only to keep one’s eyes open but also to be thinking about the master constantly. It is to be possessed by the master. Only those who refrain from sleep, drunkenness, and recreational activities can be awake.

(c) Turning down the table

Blessed are the servants whom the master sees when he re-enters his house. The master, being pleased by the works of the servants, does something unthinkable. He reverses the role. He takes on the role of a servant: he girds his loins, he sets the table for the servants, and he serves them the banquet. The reversal is total, transformative, and unexpected.

What are the lessons that we could learn from this reading?

(a) Servant attitude

Robin Sharma, a management writer, writing about mastery, differentiates between a lunchbox mindset and an executive mindset and says that a lunchbox mindset leads to mastery. How? A person with a lunchbox mindset (imagine in a school or an office!) considers himself a servant; he learns new things; he always strives for better performance; he is good with the co-workers; he relates to all; he has empathy; he has to constantly work to keep his lunchbox full. But a person with an executive mindset thinks that he knows everything; he does not learn anything new; he keeps himself aloof from others; he looks for leisure and recreation. Jesus wants his disciples – and us – to be servants, to have a lunchbox mindset.

(b) Being awake means being conscious

Being awake means being conscious: conscious of oneself, others, and God. Awareness or consciousness keeps us awake. However, consciousness does not mean overthinking, anxiety, or preoccupation.

(c) Blessed are you!

The master serves the servants not on account of mercy but on account of their merit. The servants merit this treatment from the master. Blessedness is the result of our action; at times it could be because of God’s grace, cf. Mary! We get from our lives and work, not more than what we give to them. Responsibility brings us prestige.

In the first reading, Paul writes to the Ephesians that Jesus is the mediator par excellence. He destroyed the wall of separation through his death. Further he compares Church to a building. This metaphor reminds us how we are founded on Christ, and are connected to each other.

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The ‘pilgrims of hope’ are vigilant, and awake. (Jubilee 2025 AD, bite 231)

Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi

Archdiocese of Madurai

Missionary of Mercy