Reflections on Luke 12:32-48

This is a particularly difficult Gospel for the ordinary person to mine for prayer material. In parishes they might choose the shorter form which is actually the most challenging…. Jesus tells a parable about a master punishing servants. The servant who deliberately disobeys the master is severely punished but the servant who disobeys a command that he didn’t understand or hadn’t heard is also punished though not severely. We never speak today of God punishing. I really agree that we choose to walk away from God, not that God abandons us in anger. So why does Jesus compare God with the strict master? While reflecting on life I have come to think that what was called the “punishment” of God is chiefly the consequences of our actions. That is why conversion is always a turning away from sin and a return to the loving Father. I remember a time when several of us were studying at university during the summer. We became hungry during the evening and someone went to the kitchen to get several quarts of milk. There was half a quart left and I made a mental note to return it to the refrigerator. Of course, I forgot and in the morning a half quart of milk had soured and was wasted. I might have left the milk out for spite, “why should I be the one to return it?” which would have involved a whole lot of other guilt issues. That was not the case. I simply forgot. Yet, in both cases the milk was spoiled. The consequences punish us if we are negligent, even when that is unintended. We see many innocent people suffer and cry out to God asking “why?”. Often it is a natural disaster, the consequences of forces built into creation, or the result of someone else’s actions, evil or negligent…. We know that all will one day be fair and clear and we look forward to that day.