I went shopping about a week ago to get refreshments to serve at a meeting I was scheduled to host.  I knew exactly what I wanted, but I failed to get everything on my first visit to the grocery store.  In fact, a second visit to the store proved insufficient.  On my third visit, the cashier asked if I would like to make reservations for my next attempt at shopping.  I remarked that, if it ever happened that I got everything done on the first attempt, it might be an indication that the world was about to end. 

The “end of the world” has become a cliche, but it was not always so for everyone.  Today’s Gospel reading contains references to Jesus’ first disciples’ expectations that the world was about to end, and that the Last Day would arrive very soon.  Jesus’ instructions to his disciples to abandon their worldly belongings in favor of “inexhaustible treasure in heaven” is an example of that expectation. (Lk 12:33)  The disciples expected fully that Jesus would return on the first Passover after his death, making their earthly possessions pointless.   

The first generation of Jesus’ disciples celebrated a ritual remembrance of his Last Supper on the first Passover after his resurrection because they thought it would, indeed, be their Last Supper in this world.  They repeated the ritual again on the second Passover, and the third, but he did not return as expected.  Eventually, those first disciples of Jesus had to revise their expectations regarding his return in glory.   

The unusual parable of the vigilant servants is an example of how those ancient disciples reconciled themselves with the delay in Jesus’ glorious return.  Jesus summarized the story by saying, “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.  Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.” (Lk 12:37) 

The parable ought to sound strange, even to modern hearers.  In the same way that modern consumers do not expect to wait on the serving staff at a restaurant, householders in the ancient world would not have expected to wait on household servants.  On the contrary, servants would have been expected not only to wait for their householder’s return, but to wait on the householder immediately when he arrived.  A householder would never have served his servants. 

The parable proposes an extraordinary scenario as a metaphor for the on-going presence of Jesus with his Church.  When Jesus did not return immediately, that is, at Passover – the midnight hour mentioned in the parable – his followers reevaluated their expectations and began to celebrate the Last Supper weekly as an interim substitute for the Last Day.   

In the celebration of Eucharist, the Church’s hope for the glorious return of the Risen Savior was fulfilled partially, as an interim provision for those who lived faithful lives.  In a metaphorical way, Jesus served his servants by providing the celebration of the Eucharist and by making possible an encounter with himself through their participation in the Eucharistic feast. 

The ritual that began as an act of expectant hope for Jesus’ immanent return was transformed into a ritual of sustenance for the lifelong journey of faith.  Unfortunately, interpreting Eucharist as food for life’s journey makes Eucharist susceptible to modern cultural perspectives on food.  In our culture, eating is an act of personal enjoyment rather than the act of social cohesion that it was in the ancient world.  

Often, I wonder if Eucharist has become a consumer commodity rather than an act of communion with fellow believers.  In a transaction familiar to consumer culture, attendees at Sunday Liturgy seem to barter with God by giving up a little of their time in the expectation that God will give up a little of heaven.  If this is the case, those consumers should be concerned that giving up as little as possible of their time for Sunday Mass might result in God giving up as little as possible of God’s heaven. 

What would it be like, however, if we approached the celebration of Eucharist in the same way the first generations of Christians did?  What if we gathered here on Sunday in order to support one another in our baptismal promises to be trustworthy and forgiving?  What if we valued Sunday Mass as a brief experience of the Last Day, the Lord’s glorious return, the fulfillment of God’s will to redeem the whole world? 

The Eucharistic celebration isn’t a transaction with God, designed to get us something we want; neither do we repeat it weekly in order to get it right eventually.  Rather, Eucharist is participation in what we have already – the pledge of eternal life for those who are faithful. 

When our ancestors in the Faith participated in Eucharist, they experienced a world re-created without the burdens of sin and death.  They encountered the Risen Lord in their celebrations because they saw Eucharist as a provisional fulfillment of their hope for eternal life.  We cannot know when the Last Day will arrive, but this Eucharistic celebration can prepare us for that great day by helping us to live as if it is always near.