19th
Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 12:32-48
“Be sure of this: if the
master of the house had known the hour when 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.”
(Based
on the commentary on Matthew xxiv by Cornelius a’ Lapide)
Some
in the early Church considered the thief
to be Satan. Thus St. Hilary says that the parable of the thief “shows that the devil is very watchful to take from us our goods,
and to plot against the houses of our souls, that he may dig through them
whilst we are careless, and given up to the sleep of our own devices; and he
would pierce through them with the darts of enticements. It behooves us,
therefore, to be prepared, because ignorance of the day sharpens the intense
solicitude of expectation ever suspended.” However, this does not seem to
coincide with what follows, since our Savior compares his coming to that of the
thief. Therefore, it is better to say that the thief is a metaphor for Christ
in his coming.
Moreover,
the parable of the thief can refer to both the particular and the final judgment.
For Christ compares himself to a thief insofar as his coming is unexpected and unannounced
– “on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour” – but even if this refers
primarily to the Parousia, it also can be understood of a single man’s death,
which is often unexpected.
How strange is this
parable – that the Savior and Sovereign Lord should compare himself to the
thief! The thief comes to take what is not his, but all things belong to Christ
for through him and for him all things
were made. When he comes, he takes what is his own by right and by
conquest!
Again the thief comes as
one unwanted and hateful, but our Savior should be the desire of our hearts – to him the Spirit and the Bride say, Come! In this respect also, Christ
ought not to be received as a thief.
However, in one respect
Christ is very much like a thief in his coming – just as the thief comes secretly
and suddenly, so too will our Savior be in the day of his coming. As lightning flashes and lights up the sky from
the east to the west so will our Savior be. In the twinkling of the eye all will be changed! How great and
terrible that Day, but for his holy ones it will be the day of vindication!
Maranatha, Come Lord
Jesus!
I appreciate your thoughts and commentary. I found the commentary on Mary as Mother of God but not Mother of Divinity an interesting foray into Thomist reasoning. I should comment more, for I lurk more than I comment, but I've picked up some very valuable insights on your site. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteTantumblogo,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that our NTM site has been helpful to you.
Indeed, what a gift St. Thomas was/is to the whole Church!
Please do feel free to comment, share insights, propose questions, etc. It would be great if we could begin to revive the old scholastic "quaestio"!
Many blessings,
Reginald
Cornelius a' Lapide was a great biblical scholar from the "golden age of catholic biblical scholarship". What a gift he is to the Church!
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