FIRST READING
“In every way you were enriched in him.
The beginning of the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:1-9)
Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, to the Church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge — even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you — so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ; who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 145:2-3.4-5.6-7 (R. see 1b)
R/. I will bless your name, O Lord, forever.
I will bless you day after day,
and praise your name forever and ever.
The Lord is great and highly to be praised;
his greatness cannot be measured. R.
Age to age shall proclaim your works,
shall declare your mighty deeds.
They will tell of your great glory and splendour,
and recount your wonderful works. R.
They will speak of your awesome deeds,
recount your greatness and might.
They will recall your abundant goodness,
and sing of your just deeds with joy. R.
ALLELUIA Matthew 24:42a.44
Alleluia. Watch, therefore, and be ready; the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
“Be ready.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Matthew 24:42-51)
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Watch, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 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. Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. “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? Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken; the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
God has made you the caretaker of his household, the dispenser of all his goods. As caretaker, God has enriched you with every grace and knowledge so that you are not lacking in any good work. If you have this sense of mission, try your best to be diligent at it. God will certainly reward your faithfulness. St Monica is one such faithful servant who spent a lifetime of prayer and sacrifice for the conversion of her Son, Augustine. Unless we treasure something, we might not find reason to protect and preserve it.