love to wait (part 1)
"It will go well with those servants whom the Master finds wide-awake on His return." —Luke 12:37
Jesus tells us that we must be constantly prepared for His return. We are to be vigilant to the point of expecting His Second Coming any day. Jesus, however, hasn't returned in the last two millennia, so how can we find the urgency to be this vigilant?
The father of the prodigal son had no reason to expect his son's return. His son, by requesting his inheritance, in effect told his father: "I wish you were dead, so I could get my inheritance" (see Lk 15:12). Yet each day the father vigilantly watched for his son from a deep love that overcame even the wounds his son inflicted. Because of his loving, hopeful vigilance, he was in position to see his son even when he was "a long way off" (Lk 15:20).
"Jacob served seven years for" the opportunity to marry "Rachel, yet they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her" (Gn 29:20). Imagine Jacob tending the sheep in the field, watching daily in hopes of glimpsing his beloved Rachel carrying a water jar or performing her daily chores. Jacob waited in vigilant, hopeful love, and this hope did not leave him disappointed (see Rm 5:5).
It's the vigilance of increasing love that won't wane. "Fix your eyes on Jesus" (Heb 3:1). Love Him with all your heart (Mk 12:30).
Prayer: Father, may I always "be ready to greet [Jesus] when He comes again.''
Promise: "Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near through the blood of Christ." —Eph 2:13
Praise: St. Isaac loved the Indians even as they tortured and killed him and his companions.
Reference: (This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)
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Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, April 6, 2010
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