Mt. 24: 37-44
Today we enter to the season of advent wherein we eagerly await Jesus into our life. The best definition about liturgy is that it is life. The Christian liturgy is not merely a set of dos and do not’s, rather it accompanies a person from birth to death as a constant companion, reminding us that we all are spiritual beings on an earthly journey. The celebration of each season especially, the season of advent is an opportune moment for us to get back to God and grow in our relationship with him.
Today’s gospel reading presents to us the second coming of Jesus. It is not clear to us when it would happen. However the central theme that runs through this passage is our personal responsibility towards our own salvation. At times, we take it for granted that Jesus has won salvation for us – thus, we are saved and we could live a cozy life. It is true that Jesus has won salvation for us and he made it available for the entire humanity however, we need to claim for our salvation.
How can we claim for this salvation? We need to be responsible. We need to prepare ourselves for the supreme encounter that we can have at any moment of our life. The gospel passage exhorts us to ‘stay awake’ because we do not know what hour the Master is coming. It can happen to any of us that we may take our life for granted; we live as though this supreme encounter is a distant reality. We need to prepare ourselves for this the supreme encounter with the Lord.
How can we be prepared for this encounter? In the first reading we see people at the time of Noah immersed in worldly affairs, they were absolutely not ready to encounter such havoc spiritually and physically. Noah and his household survived the flood because Noah was righteous and upright before God. God himself assisted Noah to face this tragedy whereas others were not prepared and as a result, they perished in the flood.
I think the season of advent becomes meaningful in this regard. It is quite natural that we take life for granted. This does not mean we should live our life in fear of death. We need to be in touch with God and our own self. We need to do a daily review of our life, wherein, we need to assess our own relationship with God and neighbour. This daily encounter would empower us little by little for the supreme encounter with the Lord at an unexpected hour. ‘Staying awake,’ does not mean sacrificing our normal sleep; nevertheless, it is an indication of our personal time with the Lord in prayer. He is not a reality that we need to encounter only on Sundays and in our moments of need, rather in our day to day life. The influential thinker, Karl Rahner opines that prayer is the most important dimension in our encounter with God. It is prayer that helps us to recognize the presence of God in our day to day life. As we begin our advent journey, let us stay awake with the Lord in our personal moments of prayer that we may encounter him as the babe like the Magi and the shepherds..