Gospel (Lk 12,39-48) - At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: «Try to understand this: if the master of the house knew at what time the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You too should be ready because, at an hour you do not imagine, the Son of Man is coming." Then Peter said: "Lord, are you saying this parable for us or for everyone?". The Lord replied: «Who then is the trusted and prudent administrator, whom the master will place in charge of his servants to give the food ration in due time? Blessed is that servant whom the master, upon arriving, finds acting thus. Truly I tell you that he will put you in charge of all his possessions. But if that servant said in his heart, “My master is slow in coming,” and began to beat the male and female servants, to eat, to drink, and to get drunk, the master of that servant will come one day when he will not take it. wait and at an hour he doesn't know, he will punish him severely and inflict on him the fate that infidels deserve. »The servant who, knowing the master's will, does not dispose or act according to his will, will receive many beatings; the one who, not knowing it, has done things worthy of beatings, will receive few. To everyone who has been given much, much will be asked; to whom much was entrusted, much more will be required."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Jesus invites us once again to live life as an expectation of a new future: "Be ready", he says to his disciples. The Gospel clarifies this perspective with the parable of the administrator placed at the head of a house after the owner's departure. The steward, thinking that the master would be late, began beating the male and female servants, drinking and getting drunk. It's a scene that at first glance appears exaggerated. It actually describes a rather frequent situation. Ultimately, the many injustices and the thousands of small daily evils that make life difficult for everyone arise from this widespread attitude. From the idea, that is, of behaving like little masters of the lives of others, with the fairly short-sighted thought that we don't have to be accountable to anyone anyway. Man thinks he can afford everything, such as violence, abuse, wars. This is why the Gospel passage suggests staying wide awake: "Blessed is that servant whom the master, when he arrives, finds acting like this". The one who waits for someone else remains awake, the one for whom life does not end with the limits of his own interests, or of what he can or cannot do, with the limits established by his own thoughts, by his own body, by his own feelings. We are called to bear witness in the world in which we live that every day is nourished by expectation and hope and that everyone's life is a gift, a talent for which we will be asked to account. It is written: "To whom much is given, much will be asked."