Be watchful! Be alert!
How has the Lord come into your life lately?
How has the Lord come into your life lately?
Advent is upon us, and the word itself reminds us of the
season’s focus: Jesus’ coming into the
world, from the Latin, ad-venire, to
come to. Humankind has long held the
hope of God coming into our lives. From
the time of the prophet Isaiah, the people of Israel longed for a powerful
manifestation of the divine presence in their midst, especially at moments when
they felt abandoned by God, lost without his constant care: O that
you would rend the heavens and come down… Return for the sake of your servants. Psalm 80 bears a similar message: Come to
save us… Protect what your right hand has planted. Yet the psalm’s refrain reminds us that
the people realize they must turn back to God -- who has never left them -- as well: Lord,
make us turn to you, let us see your face and we shall be saved. Humankind has always longed for God, longed
to experience his presence in our midst...
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that, just as the people
of Israel waited for a Messiah before his birth, so his followers will have to
patiently await his return in the second coming: Be
watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come…
Like gatekeepers, we must be attentive, ever ready to the possibility of Jesus’
appearance in our midst, ever ready to experience the powerful grace that is the divine presence among
us. The Corinthians, for all their issues, have known this
presence: though they too wait for the
Lord’s second coming, having received the
grace of God, they are in Christ
and have been enriched by his dwelling within them, blessed with the spiritual gifts of discourse and knowledge. May we be so lucky!
Jesus surprises us with his presence -- grace -- at the
most unexpected times of need, of course, but he is also there in the simple
tasks and gestures of everyday life. We see Jesus in Creation and in each other. Most importantly, we find the Lord in Eucharist, when we take him into our
bodies, and into our hearts. May we
remain ever watchful, then, and aware of the myriad ways we can witness Jesus’
coming, not only at Christmas, but today and every day…
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