Tuesday 21 October 2025 - Have your lamps lit

Tuesday 21 October 2025

Today is Tuesday the 21st of October, in the 29th week of Ordinary Time. Juliano Ravanello sings, Adoro te devote, a prayer written by St Thomas Aquinas: ‘Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore, Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more, See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.’ Adoro te devote, latens Deitas Quæ sub his figuris vere latitas Tibi se cor meum totum subjicit Quia te contemplans totum deficit Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur Sed auditu solo tuto creditur Credo quidquid dixit Dei Fílius Nil hoc verbo veritatis verius In cruce latebat sola Deitas At hic latet simul et humanitas Ambo tamen credens atque confitens Peto quod petivit latro pœnitens Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor Deum tamen meum te confiteor Fac me tibi semper magis credere In te spem habere, te diligere O memoriale mortis Domini! Panis vivus, vitam præstans homini! Præsta meæ menti de te vivere Et te illi semper dulce sapere Pie pellicane, Jesu Domine Me immundum munda tuo sanguine Cujus una stilla salvum faceret Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere Jesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio Oro fiat illud, quod tam sitio Ut, te revelata cernens facie Visu sim beatus tuæ gloriæ. Amen Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke. Luke 12:35-38 Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those servants. Jesus’ teaching here is quite strong. What do you notice particularly about the passage? What is at the heart of Jesus’ message? Place yourself into the scene for a moment. What is it like to be “waiting for the Master”? Does this echo in your own waiting on Jesus? “The Master will have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them”. Does anything surprise you about this? Now listen as the passage is read to you once more. Imagine the scene as it unfolds... Luke 12:35-38 ‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those servants. Finally, see if you can gather together all the thoughts that have risen inside you during this time, and then turn them into a prayer to God. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be World without end Amen