How should we live out our calling? In today’s Gospel, the disciples are called to live in light of the end-time—in the face of Jesus’ absence and return. In the parable, the emphasis is on being faithful to the Lord and attentive to the return of the Lord and His judgment.

The word “parousia”, which we use to refer to the second coming of the Lord and the last judgment, is, in fact, nothing else than the Greek equivalent of the Latin word "adventus." That is why the “parousia” is also called the second “adventus,” the one that is supposed to occur "in glory," whereas the first one admittedly occurred in a humble, altogether hidden, way.

We can also describe the preparation for this second “adventus” as the equivalent of a second birth, i.e. of that moment when what had first appeared as hidden is finally revealed. Thus, to live in light of the end-time, in light of Jesus’ 2nd Coming is to surrender oneself to the Lordship of Christ, to allow oneself be formed by the Spirit. It is the work of the Spirit to heal and remake us so that we can receive Christ not on our terms, but in any conditions.