Today's Devotion

Wednesday of Easter 5, May 6, 2026 - Luke 12:35-53

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning,” says our Lord. This is a figurative way to say, “Be prepared,” such as a soldier being equipped and able to go into battle immediately. Or another metaphor that our Lord uses is a servant being diligent even when his master is not home. For at some point, the master will return. And what would be better? To find the servant awake and at work? Or asleep with his duties unfulfilled, his work undone? “Blessed are those servants,” says Jesus, “whom the master finds awake when he comes.”

It is easy to get so wrapped up in the things of this world, in assuming that tomorrow will be just like today, that we forget the things that are the most important, the “one thing… necessary” as Jesus explained to Martha (Luke 10:42): the life to which we are called as Christians, to “hear the Word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28).

For in the same way that thieves don’t announce the time of their break-ins, so too will Jesus not reveal when He is returning. So we have to be prepared for that moment to come at any time. This calls for wisdom and the right priorities in our lives. And in response to St. Peter’s inquiry about whether this parable applies only to unbelievers, or also to believers, our Lord cautions: “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand more.”

Dear friends, what has Jesus given you? Your very existence, pardon for all of your sins, the promise of eternal life “by grace” and “through faith” (Eph 2:8). He gives us the right to call God “our Father” (Matt 6:9), “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Phil 4:7), and victory over sin, death, and the devil.

So let us consider the Lord’s goodness, and as His servants, let us find our assigned work to do in the kingdom. This is not to earn our Lord’s favor, as if we could save ourselves by our works (Eph 2:9), but rather to show our gratitude, to be the best servants we can be out of love for God and for our neighbor (Matt 22:37-39). And paradoxically, being a servant of the Lord will anger some people. We should be prepared for this. There will be divisions between people, even within the same household.

So let us remember, “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.