CCC Cross Reference:
Mt 24:44 673
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Reading 1
1 Thes 3:7-13
We have been reassured about you, brothers and sisters,
in our every distress and affliction, through your faith.
For we now live, if you stand firm in the Lord.
What thanksgiving, then, can we render to God for you,
for all the joy we feel on your account before our God?
Night and day we pray beyond measure to see you in person
and to remedy the deficiencies of your faith.
Now may God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus
direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase
and abound in love for one another and for all,
just as we have for you,
so as to strengthen your hearts,
to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father
at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 90:3-5a, 12-13, 14 and 17
R. (14) Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Gospel
Mt 24:42-51
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’
and begins to beat his fellow servants,
and eat and drink with drunkards,
the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day
and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading 1 Thessalonians 3:7 – 13
Brothers, your faith has been a great comfort to us in the middle of our own troubles and sorrows; now we can breathe again, as you are still holding firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you, for all the joy we feel before our God on your account? We are earnestly praying night and day to be able to see you face to face again and make up any shortcomings in your faith.
May God our Father himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, make it easy for us to come to you. May the Lord be generous in increasing your love and make you love one another and the whole human race as much as we love you. And may he so confirm your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless in the sight of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus Christ comes with all his saints.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 89(90):3-4,12-14,17
Fill us with your love that we may rejoice.
You turn men back to dust
and say: ‘Go back, sons of men.’
To your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday, come and gone,
no more than a watch in the night.
Fill us with your love that we may rejoice.
Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?
Show pity to your servants.
Fill us with your love that we may rejoice.
In the morning, fill us with your love;
we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Let the favour of the Lord be upon us:
give success to the work of our hands.
Fill us with your love that we may rejoice.
Gospel Matthew 24:42 – 51
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite sure of this that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
What sort of servant, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their food at the proper time?
‘Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you solemnly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the dishonest servant who says to himself, “My master is taking his time”, and sets about beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Thursday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time
From: 1 Thessalonians 3:7-13
Paul Rejoices over the Good Reports Brought by Timothy (Continuation)
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[7] For this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith; [8] for now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord. [9] For what thanksgiving can we render to God for you, for all the joy which we feel for your sake before our God, [10] praying earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?
He Prays for the Thessalonians
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[11] Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you; [12] and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all men, as we do to you, [13] so that he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
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Commentary:
6-8. St Paul discreetly allows the Thessalonians to see how zealous he is for their souls: far from being indifferent to their state of spiritual health, he sees it as a matter of life or death. Concern for the solid faith of those entrusted to him is his very life. Timothy has reported that the Thessalonians were "standing fast in the Lord" and that makes him very happy.
9. The fact that the Thessalonians are steadfast in the faith in spite of persecution is not due only to their own merits; the credit must go mainly to the grace of God; and so St Paul thanks the Lord for the help he has given them.
"For all the joy we feel...before our God": that is, in the presence of God. Prayer provides the outlet the Christian needs for expressing his feelings and desires; it is an intimate conversation with God which he can have at any time: "While we carry out as perfectly as we can (with all our mistakes and limitations) the tasks allotted to us by our situation and duties, our soul longs to escape. It is drawn towards God like iron drawn by a magnet. One begins to love Jesus, in a more effective way, with the sweet and gentle surprise of his encounter" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 296).
10. St Paul's first stay in Thessalonica was a very short one, because unrest caused by Jews forced him to leave in a hurry (cf. Acts 17:5-10). That meant that he was unable to give any advanced religious instruction to the believers -- which is why he wants to see them again.
He does not confine himself to wishing he could see them; he uses his supernatural resources (including prayer) to obtain what he wants, for prayer should precede and accompany preaching. Otherwise there is no reason to expect apostolic work to bear fruit. Although faith is born of preaching (cf. Rom 10:17), preaching alone cannot produce faith; St Thomas teaches that it is necessary for grace to act on the heart of the listener (cf. "Commentary on Rom", 10, 2).
11. Earlier St Paul referred to the obstacles Satan put in the way of his return to Thessalonica (cf. 2:18). That is why he now prays the Lord to "direct his way" -- prayer being the best resource he has.
"May our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct [singular verb] our way": it is interesting to note that the verb is singular even though it has two subjects. It would be wrong to dismiss this as insignificant, for it hints at the mystery of the three Persons in the one God.
12-13. Love is a supernatural virtue which inclines us to love God (for his own sake) above all things, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. Given that charity is a virtue which God infuses into the soul, it is something we must not only practise but also ask God to increase in us.
Supernatural love, or charity, embraces everyone without exception. "Loving one person and showing indifference to others", St John Chrysostom observes, "is characteristic of purely human affection; but St Paul is telling us that our love should not be restricted in any way" ("Hom. on 1 Thess, ad loc."). When a person practices this virtue in an uninhibited way, his holiness gains in strength: he becomes irreproachable "before our Lord and Father"; "in this does the true merit of virtue really consist--and not in simply being blameless before men [...]. Yes, I shall say it again: it is charity, it is love, which makes us blameless" ("ibid.").
"With all his saints": referring to believers who died in the grace of God.
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From: Matthew 24:42-51
Vigilance. The Faithful Servant
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(Jesus said to his disciples,) [42] "Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. [43] But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. [44] Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
[45] "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? [46] Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. [47] Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. [48] But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' [49] and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, [50] the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, [51] and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth."
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Commentary:
42. Jesus himself draws from this revelation about the future the practical moral that a Christian needs to be on the watch, living each day as if it were his last.
The important thing is not to be speculating about when these events will happen and what form they will take, but to live in such a way that they find us in the state of grace.
51. "And will punish him [or, cut him in pieces]": this can be understood as a metaphor for "will cast him away". "Weeping and gnashing of teeth": the pains of hell.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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