Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ spoke a certain Parable, called the Prabale of the Returning Master. It has also been called the Parable of the Faithful Servant, and this is in Matthew 24:45-51, and it is a very important Parable. As you have read above my friends, the Parable illustrates a faithful and wise servant of his Master, who kept doing the job he was assigned to do by his Master, and diligently doing it, and he was blessed and given good gifts as a result of his loving loyalty. However, the Parable also speaks of the unfaithful and foolish servant, who began to be derelict in his duty, and began being drunk, beating is fellow servants, and when the Master returned to see him like this, he was not given the good gifts the good and faithful servant was given. Instead, he was given the portion allocated for the hypocrites, and instantly he regretted it, the servant.

This is a very important Parable spoken by our Lord, and its teaching we really must take to heart, and we really must put it into practice. For it deals with the Second Coming of Christ, and the Day of Judgement, when he comes again, when the dead will rise to life, the righteous to be with Christ forever, the wicked risen to be condemned by their own actions and choices. So, listen carefully, and be careful to put the teaching into practice.

The teaching of Christ is this: Remain faithful to Christ, remain steadfast in the faith, and keep persevering for Christ and in the faith, so that when the Second Coming is here, we will be 100% ready for Christ's judgement and separation of the righteous in Christ and the wicked of the world. We are the servants in the Parable, and the Master is Christ himself. His departure is his Ascension into Heaven, and life on the property of the Master is life in the Church. Our life in the Church, Christ's Church is supposed to be very much alive, with living faith, specifically continuing to die to sin, and continuing to become alive to Christ through his Grace, which is imparted to us through Baptism, Holy Communion, and the rest of the Seven Holy Scarcements. Living faith in the Master will reflect a life that imitates the Master. But we servants do not know when our Master is going to return to the property. But he gave us all a specific purpose to work while we are working on his property. Each of us have an important job to do in the life of the Church, and all are necessary to communion with God. To some of us, he gave the gift of evangelization, others the gift of knowing the Word of God, and to still others the gift of defending the faith from heretics, and still many other gifts he has given to each one of us, all of which are very important to the Master. So, with the specific purpose Christ gave us, we must be diligent and productive and do the jobs and works that Christ gave us, and keep on doing them until the day Christ comes again. That way, when we are found to have been diligent for the Master, and faithful to his commands, and steadfast in life in the Church, he will give us the gift he has promised to give us: Eternal Life, which is knowing God intimately forever and ever. However, in order to inherit this great and merciful gift from God, we need to keep watch and remain ready for the Second Coming of Christ. So Watch, that you many not fall into temptation and sin against God, and so separate yourselves from the Love of God, and continue my friends to be ready for the Second coming, and you can do this by loving Christ, which is obeying him, and becoming ultimately Christ-like, by God's Grace.

This is the main point of the Parable that Christ wants us to always have in our hearts, that we may always keep watch and remain faithful, like the faithful and wise servant. But Christ really does warn us not to be like the unfaithful and foolish servant in his parable. Think of this my friends: if Christ were to come tomorrow, would you be ready for him? Would you be counted among the sheep, or the goats? Hopefully the Sheep! To be the sheep, remain in virtue that Christ himself expressed clearly and taught clearly, and obey the commandments and teaching of Christ our Lord. In this way brothers and sisters, we would make ourselves ready and diligent, just like the faithful servant in the Parable. But if one of you were to go astray, and indulge in the life of sin, in the life the demons offer, a life separated from God, this is dangerous, for you do not know when Christ is going to come again, or even when you will pass from this earth. Honestly, you would be counted among the goats if you take the road of the demons, the life separated from God. If you take this road, you would become the unfaithful and foolish servant, and you would place yourself in a dangerous situation. Do not be the unfaithful servant who was derelict in his duty!

Therefore, remain diligent, and keep watch, and remain faithful to Christ as he remained faithful to you. For life with Christ is to have life, life within the Church with living faith is to have life, and life under the Grace of God and obedience to Christ is the life we all seek, so hold on to that life.

Keep remaining faithful my friends in Christ. Do not be afraid, for Christ is always with us. Continue in Holy Lent and do not give up my brothers and sisters. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever unto the age of ages. Amen.