Praised be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.
Before the passage of the Gospel that we just heard, Christ was talking about the fact that it is not given to men to know when the end will come. We do not know when the second coming will be. Christ gave us signs, and some of them resemble things that have already happened. So many before us expected that the end of the world was near. One of these was St. Gregory the Great, who died in AD 604. He had not seen all of the promised signs but felt that given the extraordinary things that had happened, the remaining ones were probably not far off. God wants us to be unsure whether or not the end of the world is near so that we will be ready if it does come soon. 
But whether or not the world is ending soon, Christ comes as judge at the end of the life of each one of us. So while I may be confident that the world will not end today because the promised conversion of the Jews has not come about, I do not know whether or not I will die today. I do not know of anything that will cause my death. I feel healthy, and yet every day, there are people who die unexpectedly.
We should not be paralyzed with fear by this thought, but rather driven to not put off reconciliation with God, not put off loving him with our whole heart. Death does no harm to those who are in God's grace. Rather, it is gain for them. It means that they can no longer be lost. Heaven is theirs in all certainty, although most people will probably have to pass through purgatory to get there. But nevertheless, heaven cannot be lost. It is assured even if the way to there remains painful. 
Therefore, stay awake, as our translation has it, not physically awake, but spiritually awake. A sleeping person does not perceive reality. He dreams. He sees things that are not real. We must not live in a dream world. We must be aware of the reality of what we have to do to go to heaven. 
This is the sense in which we must stay awake and be vigilant. Vigilance is what is necessary to keep from being robbed. Christ makes this analogy or parable. People lock doors and set alarms even though probably on any given day there will be no thief, because they want to be ready. If he does come, they want it to be hard for him to rob them. 
According to Saint John Chrysostom, Christ is saying in his parable that if we have this much care for earthly goods we possess, we should take at least as much care not to lose heaven. Heaven is worth more than all we possess, all our earthly possessions, so it merits greater concern. And it is certain that Christ will come to judge us, whereas it is uncertain whether any thief will ever come. So any reasonable person will prepare more for what is certain than for what is uncertain. 
At this point, Saint Peter asked a question. According to Saint Luke, he said, Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone? Jesus did not explicitly answer the question. Instead, he gave another parable of comparison. This one is about the faithful, and prudent servant whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food in the proper time. 
These servants are the clergy, especially those like bishops and parish priests who have the pastoral care of a portion of the church. They have been put in charge of the household of God, which is the church of the living God, as Saint Paul wrote to Timothy. At the proper time, they give that food, which is the Eucharist, and in another sense, they feed the people by proclaiming and preaching to them the word of God, for this, too, is food. And for this reason, Amos prophesied, see days are coming, oracle of the Lord God, when I will send a famine upon the land, not a hunger for bread or a thirst for water, but for hearing the word of the Lord. 
So the answer to the question, to Saint Peter's question, is that everyone must be vigilant. But those whom God has set over others have more at stake in the judgment. If when Christ comes to judge such a servant he finds him faithful, then he will receive a great reward, comparable to a master placing his servant over all his property. 
If, on the other hand, Christ judges him unfaithful, he will receive a punishment much more severe than an ordinary unfaithful Christian would receive. Literally, the Greek says that he will cut him in two. This is such a cruel and unusual punishment that many interpreters, like our translator, don't think that it's meant severely, so he just translates, punish him severely. But good interpreters do take it literally, and I think that's the point. Christ is saying that the punishment that awaits unfaithful priests and bishops is unimaginably severe, and yet still just. 
God is never cruel, but we tend to underestimate what sin is and what punishment it merits. Although this parable applies directly to priests and bishops, the principle applies to anyone whom providence is placed over others. Whether someone is in charge of a diocese, or a parish, or a country, or a city, or just a family, authority must be used for the good of those under it, and not for personal convenience. It is the power to do much good or much harm, and God will reward or punish in proportion to the greatness of the good or harm that was done. 
One person who had great authority and used it very well was St. Paul. He was well aware of the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. For this reason, he was worried about the Thessalonians and what was happening in his absence to the Christian community that he had founded. Were they keeping the faith or losing it, growing in charity, or growing in sin? He hadn't had enough time to teach them everything about the faith, so would that incomplete teaching be enough to keep them going? He wanted to get back to visit them, and he tried repeatedly to do so, but he says that Satan prevented him. 
Eventually, he sent St. Timothy in his place, and when Timothy returned, he gave St. Paul a consoling report of the continued faithfulness of the Christians of Thessalonica. We can see how concerned the apostle was from the fact that he wrote, We now live if you stand firm in the Lord. He was suffering so much that it was almost as if he was dying, not knowing whether they were well or ill spiritually. 
After Timothy's return, St. Paul wrote the first letter to the Corinthians to express his joy and to correct some of the problems that Timothy had observed. In the passage, we heard that he thanks God that they stand fast, for he knows that this is the work of grace. 
We must cooperate with grace, but if God does not give it, we can do nothing. So grace must be obtained by prayer. St. Paul accordingly prays that the Lord make them increase and abound in love for one another and for all. St. John Chrysostom observes that this is the characteristic of charity, that it loves all, while natural love is for some persons and not for others. St. Paul wishes that charity strengthen their hearts, that we are drawn by our love. So the love that draws us to God must be greater than the love that draws us after our passions, after the things of this world that can lead us away from God. So St. Paul wishes that charity strengthen the hearts of the Thessalonians and, of course, of all our hearts, and to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his holy ones. For so he will come to judge. 
Praised be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.