Gird your loins and light your lamps
In the first letter of Saint Peter he expounds on what it means to gird our loins, saying "gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (see First Peter 1:13). It a posture of mind that is sober, steadfast, and rooted in hope. It becomes "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain" (see Hebrews 6:19). Only in this way will we "not be alarmed" when we "hear of wars and rumors of wars" (see Mark 13:7). We note that Jesus speaks this as a command of something which we must do, not something that will simply happen to us passively. We must be vigilant and continue to draw our minds back to this expectant hope when we find ourselves assailed by doubt.
In his second letter Saint Peter helps explain how we can keep our lamps lit, which is by paying attention to the word of God, "as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (see Second Peter 1:19). It does little good to keep our minds vigilantly if they are only directed to darkness. But when we focus on the word of God, God's own perspective on reality can become ours as well. When that happens we will experience trust and peace even in the midst of turmoil and difficulty.
and be like servants who await their master's return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
After the marriage feast between Christ the Bridegroom and his Church the Bride he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. And we must be prepared for that coming. It could happen today. But even if it does not happen in our lifetimes there are other ways, no less real, in which Christ comes to us. And these we miss to our detriment.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me (see Revelation 3:20).
Mass is a perfect place to practice girding our minds and lighting our lamps. For the in the mass the bridegroom comes to us in his word and in his body and blood. If we have our eyes of faith open we will see that even now he will "have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them". This feast, with which Jesus himself serves us, is the celebration feast of the wedding of heaven and earth, man and God, which Jesus brought about in himself by his death and resurrection. It looks forward to a final culmination, perhaps in the second or the third watch, when he comes again, and can be even now a foretaste of that final and unending joy. A little disciplined attention is not too much to ask for such a treasure.
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and the gift of justification
come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.
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