Most of us have had the experience of being left out at one time or another. Somebody did not choose us for a sports team or accept us in a group we wanted to join. Some of us have experienced the pain of exclusion because of race, religion, nationality, socio-economic status, or gender. Some of us may have had the good fortune of being accepted and included where we previously were not. It is this kind of remarkable reversal that Paul now recounts. He reminds Gentile believers that at one point in time, they were the consummate outsiders, separated from God and his chosen people, Israel. He explains that the Messiah’s sacrificial death on the cross has brought them in, reconciling Jews and Gentiles to one another and God in a re-created human race. The upshot is that Gentile believers now enjoy an astonishingly close relationship with God as members of his household and as part of his temple on earth. Fr. Anthony Schueller writes that some became complacent and comfortable in worldly ways as the years passed. Luke included the parable of the Vigilant Stewards in our reading today to awaken them and us from complacency and a false sense of security. In prosperous times especially, it is tempting to think that this life is all we have to look forward to, that there is nothing more that God intends for us or creation. Jesus praises those servants who don’t succumb to such thinking but remain alert and watchful, preparing to welcome him. For each of us, there is that intensely personal coming of Christ at life’s end. There is his promised second coming for humankind at the end of time. Jesus warns us to be ready for both!