“Ready For His Arrival” (2016-08-07)

August 7, 2016,

19^th Sunday, Year C

[ Wisdom 18:6-9,  Psalm 33,  Hebrews 11:1-2, 18-19, +Luke 12: 32-48 ]

Title: “Ready For His Arrival”

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[__01__]    Let the games begin. We have just witnessed the opening ceremonies and early events of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games  in Rio de Janeiro.

          Several Olympic 4-year cycles ago, back in 1988, two friends of mine told me of their opportunity to attend and see the summer Olympics ins Seoul, in South Korea, in 1988.

          I remember nothing of what they told me about swimming, pole vaulting, sprinting, or diving. I imagine they attended some of these events.

          What I remember best was their experience, their encounter, with extraordinary hospitality during their stay in Seoul.

          They did not have any money, but they lived rather comfortably. They had traveled from the U.S., having bought some kind of affordable airplane ticket to Seoul.  They arrived in Japan where they stayed for a while and then took a boat across the Japan Sea to South Korea.

          They were traveling economy class the whole way. However, their connection was to a friend at the U.S. Embassy, with the U.S. Ambassador.  So, they stayed as guests at the Embassy for several days, enjoying orange juice, and toasted English muffins every day, an Olympic holiday  which they themselves could never have afforded.

          So, it was due to this friendship, this connection that they were able to enjoy the 1988 Olympics in style.

[__02__]   This past Friday evening, a new Olympiad started with the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

          And, in these opening ceremonies – as in every Olympics – we also witness the host country’s desire to impress, to excite, and to publicize their national identity for the world and for the many visitors to Rio de Janeiro and to Brazil.

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[__03__]    In the Gospel this Sunday, we read about the servants who await their Master’s return home, to the house.

Their calling is described in terms of the hospitality, their blessing and salvation is that they should be found to be busy, to be productive, to be vigilant.

          They do not know the day or the hour when their Lord and Master would arrive.

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[__04__]     They were working hard, but really only to please one particular visitor, one particular guest, their Lord and Master.

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[__05__]    Have you and I not had this experience – or this calling – to work or to wait for one particular person, to prepare for one special arrival in our lives?

          In such a case, and on special occasions, we are tempted – or drawn – to satisfy someone or something other than the guest of honor. 

          Isn’t this the challenge with the birth of a new child into our homes or lives?  Isn’t this the challenge with the planning of a wedding?  Isn’t this the challenge when we are working as part of a team but also trying to hear what the coach is telling us?

          In any or all of the above, we may try to please the WHOLE WORLD …or try to the GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD ..but we are losing focus on God who is entering into our homes, houses, and our consciences every moment.

          We may try to please the world with an elaborate OPENING CEREMONY that will be captured on video or You Tube.

          But, our calling is not to ensure that our performance is captured on video and shared by many but only that we make ourselves a gift to the person – to the neighbor, the spouse, the child, the friend who needs us at a particular moment.

          Jesus wants us to be vigilant for his arrival.

[__06__]      Our Lord and Savior asks us not to please the world but only to please him, to welcome him, to be ready when he comes and knocks.

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