Introit (Lk 4:18| Ps 77:1)
Os justi meditábitur sapiéntiam, et lingua ejus loquétur judícium... The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment. The law of his God is in his heart. Ps. Be not emulous of evildoers; nor envy them that work iniquity. ℣. Glory be to the Father...
Collect
O God, who hast deigned to enlighten Thy Church with the merits and teachings of Thy holy Confessor Dominic, grant by his intercession that she may not be wanting in temporal help and may ever make new spiritual progress. Through our Lord.
Epistle (II Tim 4:1-8)
Dearest: I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming, and his kingdom: Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry. Be sober. For I am even now ready to be sacrificed: and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day: and not only to me, but to them also that love his coming.
Gradual (Ps 91:13 & 14; ibid. 3 | Hos 14:6)
The just shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus in the house of the Lord. ℣. To show forth thy mercy in the morning, and thy truth in the night. Alleluia, alleluia. ℣. The just shall spring as the lily, and shall flourish for ever before the Lord. Alleluia.
Gospel (Lk 12:34-40)
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: Let your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your hands. And you yourselves like to men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching. Amen I say to you, that he will gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and passing will minister unto them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But this know ye, that if the householder did know at what hour the thief would come, he would surely watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open. Be you then also ready: for at an hour when you think not, the Son of man will come.
Reflection
✍️ To gird the loins means to restrain the lusts of the flesh, and to have lamps burning in one's hands is to shine with the example of good works (Saint Gregory the Great, Homily 13 on the Gospels). He who by his life destroys what he preaches with his mouth would do better to remain silent, for the authority of the preacher lies in the conformity between his doctrine and his conduct (Saint Augustine, Commentary on the First Epistle of John, Prologue). Therefore, it is not enough merely to watch, but to be prepared, for many watch with their lamps extinguished, that is, they live a life without the works of light that should accompany the professed faith (Saint Bede the Venerable, Homilies on the Gospel of Luke, IV, 49).
📜 The Gospel of Luke is distinguished by the unique promise that the Lord, upon returning, "will gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and passing will minister unto them," an image of intimate reward and divine service not found in the other gospels. Matthew (24:43-51), in his version of the parable, contrasts the faithful servant with the wicked servant who mistreats his companions and is severely punished, detailing the consequences of a lack of vigilance more explicitly. Mark (13:33-37) presents a shorter version, emphasizing the command given to all—"Watch!"—and using the figure of the doorkeeper, who is entrusted with the responsibility of guarding the house until the master's return.
✉️ The exhortation to vigilance in the Gospel echoes strongly in other Pauline texts. In I Thessalonians 5:2-6, Saint Paul uses the same image of the "thief in the night" and exhorts the "children of light" not to sleep as others do, but to be sober and vigilant, complementing the image of the "burning lamps" in Luke. The metaphor of combat, present in the day's Epistle, is expanded in Ephesians 6:14, where the Apostle commands to "gird your loins with truth," part of the "armor of God" necessary for spiritual battle, giving a martial sense to readiness. Furthermore, in Romans 13:11-12, the urgency of vigilance is justified by the time: "it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep," urging to "put on the armour of light" and Christ Himself, thus uniting watchful waiting with personal sanctification.
🏛️ Church documents reinforce the urgency of doctrinal and pastoral vigilance. The Council of Trent, in its decree on the reform of the clergy (Session XXIII), insists on the need for pastors who, like the vigilant servants of the Gospel, are prepared to feed the flock with sound doctrine and example, combating the "wolves" that seek to invade the sheepfold. The encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907) of Pope St. Pius X echoes the Gospel's warning about the "thief," applying it to the enemies of the faith who infiltrate the Church itself, and calls upon bishops to exercise the utmost vigilance and to "preach the word" with the same insistence as St. Paul, in order to guard the deposit of faith.