I’ve always found the words “at an hour you do not expect” anxiety-provoking. If you love to be in control (like me), there is nothing more frustrating than knowing something is going to happen but not knowing when. It can put us on edge, make us worry, and keep us focused solely on what is outside our control.

However, the more years I spend reading this passage, the more I realize it is an invitation to lay down the desire to control what is outside my control and focus instead on what our Lord says is essential.

Even though we cannot know what life has in store for us, Christ tells us we can “gird [our] loins and light [our] lamps.” We can gird our loins by being faithful to our daily duties—our work, our chores, our interactions with others—and doing them out of love for God and neighbor. We can light our lamps by staying close to God through prayer and asking God to keep our lamps lit by the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Then, when the Lord knocks, whether it be a sickness, a job loss, or a friend going through a crisis, we will be ready to “open immediately” and respond with the love of a servant who wants nothing but the good of those they serve.

Even when times are difficult, even when we are in the “second or third watch,” let us ask God for the grace to focus on what is in our control. May we light our world with lamps of love, and then, at the hour we “do not expect,” may we be invited to recline at the Lord’s table—the table of love itself.