There are few worse feelings in the world than being caught unprepared for
something important: showing up underdressed, or forgetting to do an
assignment and not realizing it until class starts, or the family you’re house sitting for coming back early and you haven’t cleaned yet, etc. It makes one feel helpless, and I’ve spent much time kicking myself in these and other awkward situations. Yet none of them are on the level of what Jesus warns us about in the Gospel today when He speaks of the Kingdom of God being at hand and what we must do to be prepared. The thought of not being ready for the Lord’s second coming is the ultimate example of being caught off guard. Jesus speaks about the need for the master of the house to be watchful and the consequences for the faithless servant who did not follow his master’s wishes, but we should   all hear a call to prepare our own hearts. 

If we’re being honest with ourselves, most of us would admit that we don’t give the time and attention to prayer that we probably should. Some believe they should pray a little and don’t really pray at all, while others are committed to a routine of prayer, but see how difficult it can be to be present to God at certain times in our lives. In either case, Jesus’ words today are a beautiful reminder of how important it is for us to open our hearts to God and listen to his voice. Jesus calls us to “know our master’s will, and make plans in accordance with it,” but if we don’t dedicate enough time to sitting in the Lord’s presence and listening to His Word, then we will neither know His will nor be able to make plans in accordance with it. 

One of the beautiful things about the  relationship we can have with God is how God pursues us but never forces our hand. He is there waiting for us in the tabernacle, in the scriptures, in the community of believers, and in any other way we might encounter Him.  But if we are going to conform our lives to Him, He gives us the road map in today’s Gospel.     Be watchful and vigilant, for the Lord will come at a time we do not expect. In the ultimate sense, that means the Lord will return to judge the  living and the dead. But in an individual sense, it means that the Lord will enter our lives at moments we weren’t expecting. Sometimes  that means a radical conversion to following Jesus for the first time, and other times it means that Jesus breaks into our complacency and calls us to action, or to deeper prayer, or to   discern some life change. Regardless of where we are in our journey of Faith, the Lord stands at the door and knocks, and we must always be listening, or we might miss out on a beautiful opportunity that the Lord wants us to have so that we can become more fully who He made   us to be.