Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the faithful servant who the master finds vigilant on his return from a wedding. He is calling us to be vigilant for the Second Coming.

Though Jesus came and fulfilled the expectations of his people, nevertheless we still wait. The liturgy states it clearly: “As we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” And in Eucharistic Prayer IV, we find, “As we await his coming in glory . . .” The creed says, “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”

In the Acts of the Apostles, the angel addresses the disciples as they stare into the heavens after the ascended Jesus. “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Paul’s letters are filled with a lively expectation that Jesus would soon return. Toward the very end of the New Testament—and hence of the entire biblical revelation—we read, “Come, Lord Jesus!” 

And the Lord draws a forceful conclusion from the parable: “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”