Stay Awake | August 27, 2015

 August 27, 2015

Imagine if we all knew the exact time and date of our own death. Some of us might live wholesome lives centered on thanksgiving while counting our blessings along the way. Some of us might live reckless lives and settle down right before our death day arrives. Some of might sit around and wait for life to begin eventually and then kick it up into high gear as our deadline (pun intended) approaches. Our bucket lists would be well thought out with an ending date duly noted. Some of us might have a paper chain counting down the days of our lives.

It kind of reminds me of when my brother and I were children. Everyday we had a list of chores that needed to be done before our parents got home from work. These chores were given to us to teach us about the importance or work, to occupy our time, to manage our schedules, teach us discipline, etc. What it actually taught us was how to time getting our chores done down to the very last minute. We had it down to a science as to when we could have our chores started and finished as our parents were literally pulling into the driveway. We squandered away our free time with watching TV and eating after school snacks, and NOT doing productive things like homework or chores. Then we would frantically fly through our chores with complete mediocrity at best until we heard the garage door open.  At that point we would stage ourselves with school books on our laps, the TV turned off, and we did our very best “we’ve been studying for hours” performance for them. We were totally confident that we had this ruse down until the day mom got home early from work. Oh crap! We were totally found out.

Today’s gospel has similar undertones. The apostles were curious about the end times. Raise your hand if you’ve ever thought about when the world would actually end? It’s part of our human nature to wonder about such things and the ancient Jews were no different, except they really did think that the end of the world would happen in their lifetime. Their sense of urgency was greater than ours for sure. I wonder if Jesus felt like messing with them a bit by saying, “December 31, 1999” or “in 43 minutes” or “next week Tuesday.” I know my silly mind would have been tempted to play that game, but I digress. Jesus says, “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.” Today it occurred to me that this sentence is very similar to the exchange that Jesus had with Peter, James, and John the night he was arrested, “Are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing but them flesh is weak.”

Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? It’s totally doable every now and then, but imagine having to stay awake ALL the time. It would never work and eventually exhaustion would win the fight. Obviously, we are not talking literally here, but being spiritual awake is absolutely necessary and considerably harder to maintain than we might think. I am reminded of Paul’s statement, “Pray without ceasing.” How do we manage this? How can we stay awake?

In the real world, I wake up my body with coffee. This should not be a surprise to anyone and we all know that caffeine is my actual best friend. I can literally feel it invigorate my blood after several sips each morning. Without coffee I am, A. miserable, B. cloudy, C. unmotivated, D. miserable, E. cranky, F. lazy, G. miserable…..do I need to go on? In my spiritual life, my wake up source is: piety, study, and action. Through prayer I establish my life in Christ, secure myself to the vine, and allow the Holy Spirit to animate my soul. With study I learn to conform my mind to become more like Christ and as I come to know more about Him through scripture, inspired reading, and conversations with other believers, my mind becomes clearly fixed on God. Once my soul is animated with the Holy Spirit, and my mind is clear enough to see how God thinks, then my body can begin to serve as the hands and feet of Christ. The spiritual caffeine is a trifecta of mind, body, and spirit working together to stay awake in response to the calling that we each have….by name. “Jen, I’m counting on you.” “Jen, I want to be with you.” “Jen, I love the way you love me.”

We need to not focus so much on the “when will it end” or “how much time to I have to get right with God” as we should on the why, what, and how to stay awake. God loves us so much that He doesn’t want us all in at the last minute like my brother and I with our chores. He doesn’t want a lifetime of mediocrity or the bare minimum. He wants a spiritually caffeinated life of joy and daily renewal of our covenant with Him. So sip the cup of salvation everyday and allow the Spirit to invigorate your mind, body, and soul so that whenever we are called out of this world, we will be ready to party, ready to dance, ready to live forever in love.

Memorial of Saint Monica
Lectionary: 428

Reading 1 1 THES 3:7-13

We have been reassured about you, brothers and sisters,
in our every distress and affliction, through your faith.
For we now live, if you stand firm in the Lord.

What thanksgiving, then, can we render to God for you,
for all the joy we feel on your account before our God?
Night and day we pray beyond measure to see you in person
and to remedy the deficiencies of your faith.
Now may God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus
direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase
and abound in love for one another and for all,
just as we have for you,
so as to strengthen your hearts, 
to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father
at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.

Responsorial Psalm PS 90:3-5A, 12-13, 14 AND 17

R. (14) Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Alleluia MT 24:42A, 44

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stay awake!
For you do not know when the Son of Man will come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 24:42-51

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’
and begins to beat his fellow servants,
and eat and drink with drunkards,
the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day
and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”