This Gospel from Luke contains Jesus' teaching on watchfulness: being ready for the Master's return at an hour we do not expect. "Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master's return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks." For a Catholic funeral, the Gospel speaks directly to the central truth that every life ends, and the question is whether one was ready.
The deceased was, the Gospel implies, ready. The Master came at an hour they did not expect (death rarely comes when expected) and they were prepared. The lamp was lit. The girdle was tight. The door was opened. The Gospel's closing image is striking: the Master, finding his servants vigilant, "girds himself, has them recline at table, and proceeds to wait on them." The deceased is not just being received; they are being served by the Master they served in life. The roles, in a strange and beautiful way, are reversed.
For families, this Gospel raises a real question: were they ready? Are we? Catholic tradition does not encourage funeral preaching that frightens; the focus is on Christ's mercy. But the Gospel's call to readiness is a gentle reminder that the deceased's life of preparation is a witness to the assembly. They were ready when the Master came. The funeral is, among other things, an invitation to live our own lives with the same attentiveness.
This Gospel is fitting for the funeral of someone whose long life of faith reached an expected end, but also for someone whose unexpected death raises the question Luke wants raised.
