The attitude of constant vigilance is basic for a truly Christian life. Jesus uses two parables today to call us to a life of vigilance: the vigilant master of the house guarding against thieves and the prudent, faithful servant.
It is very easy for us to adopt an attitude of laziness regarding our Christian life and personal conversion. Some Catholics project their life out into the future and think “I have a long time to remedy a certain personal habit or to make amends”. But the future belongs to God and not to us. In the end, we cannot control or know how much time we will have. The world needs a convincing witness of faith now, not at some theoretical point in the future.
Other Catholics build a life based on the past event of their baptism. They think “I’m baptized; I don’t have to do anything more”. Yet baptism is not a once in a lifetime event, like simple blessing given and soon forgotten. Baptism is lived out through all the stages of our lives.
All of us are called to live every day of our lives deepening our conversion and growing into witnessing our faith through every stage of our lives. The images that Jesus uses speak to us of an urgency and constancy regarding our conversion and witness. This comes not from a fear of punishment but rather from an urgency to share what we ourselves have received. Our culture and tendency to personal sin in general lead us to a state of being anesthetized, half asleep, and lazy. As a form of self-inflicted or self-administered anesthesia, we fill ourselves with things, food, games, and pleasure to the point of not being able to do anything else. Some of those activities can be sinful and some of them even good. But they put us to sleep giving us a false sense of wellbeing. We don’t feel the need for personal conversation nor for giving Christian witness to those around us.
Active vigilance is of the utmost importance for a Christian at every stage of life from being a child to being ancient elder.
Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Image: CANVA CJ Dunn 23 August 2026 AI Generated.