Daily Scripture Reflection & Prayer: August 10, 2025

Date: 19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scripture Text:  Luke 12:32-48

Jesus said to his disciples:“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.  Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hourwhen the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

Breaking the text open – background and summary:

In the gospel reading for today, Jesus instructs His followers to value the relationship with the LORD and one another more than possessions. Jesus also warns the followers to be both vigilant and prepared because no one knows for sure when the Master will arrive. As followers of Jesus, we have been given much and much is required of us.

Meditating on the text with personal questions:

Would I be prepared if the Master came today?

Praying:

LORD, Almighty Father, Jesus Christ, only begotten Son of God, Most Holy Spirit, we lift our voices in praise and thanksgiving and our hearts in love to You, the source of our being and the reason for all that is good. Stir within us, rouse us to faith and good works for love of You and for your glory. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.