At the beginning of a new liturgical year and as we start again with Year A in the three-year cycle of our readings from Sacred Scripture, we are reminded of the imperative of repetition if we, human beings, are to grow and mature. The pedagogical necessity is clear not only in the emphasis we need in order to recognize and focus on what we should pay attention to, but also in our natural requirement, both bodily and spiritually, that we can take in only so much at any given time. Repetition contains the promise and the hope that the next time will be more fruitful and effective. Opening the new liturgical year is the call once again to preparedness (Matthew 24:36-44).
As in days past
IT can be said as characteristic of us that we get caught up in the everyday affairs of life. As in the days of Noah in the Old Testament story, people were “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage”—all normal activities that can be all consuming. So much to do and there is not enough time to do them, we groan, with the result that one can be completely oblivious of other matters of vital importance for one’s well-being. Something world-changing happens like a daluyong that sweeps away everything on its path, and one is unprepared.
There is danger in allowing oneself to be so totally taken up by everyday things so as not to attend anymore to other extraordinary matters that one knows however would be taking place.
The critical need for the right inner disposition is illustrated by the case of two persons doing exactly the same thing but one is ready and the other not. It is not asked that we cease and desist from our everyday life in order to be prepared.
One does not need to stop working and earn a living at the mill or in the field and be instead praying and in the temple, in order to be taken into God’s kingdom. We do not need to quit the tasks of everyday life and engage in exclusively religious activities, in order to qualify as ready for God. But one must be determined not let oneself to be surprised unprepared as if by something entirely unexpected. If you know a thief is planning to break into your house, you will get ready for it.
The Lord is coming
One thing is sure: the Day of the Lord, the time of His reign and the fulfilment of His will, is coming. Even if we do not know the exact time of His coming—the Father alone knows—its importance for us all means that not to be ready for the Day of the Lord will have severe consequences. It entails judgment and, therefore, segregation. Those who have prepared for it by their faithfulness to Jesus Christ will be taken into God’s kingdom, and those who have not will be left out.
The resounding injunction on us is “Stay awake!” We cannot plan to prepare for it at the last minute, for we do not know when the last minute is. We cannot say “wake me up when He is near,” because He is here already. Staying awake in a world of forgetfulness means constant attentiveness to Jesus, being guided by his gospel, and staying conscious of the spiritual dimension of life. We cannot just slide into a rut of being “so busy, yet so empty.” Neglect of the spirit is what undermines humankind.
Alálaong bagá, we are not supposed to be lost in the things of the world, and be emptied of Christian meaning and purpose, of the Spirit of Christ. Particularly in this Christmas season, we cannot as busy people becoming busier allow ourselves to “fall asleep” and be spiritually depleted: not longing anymore for the birth of Jesus in us and in our families but for the other “Christmas gifts” we truly await.
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