Reflection for Sunday November 30, First Sunday of Advent; Mark 13:33-37

Gospel: Mark 13:33-37

Jesus said to his disciples: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”

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Reflection:

What does it mean to be watchful? It means to always be prepared and alert for anything that may happen or arrive. But why do we need to be watchful? Why not simply become passive and complacent? We need to be watchful because this is what Jesus wants us to become for He will manifest His presence to us at any moment of our lives.

Why did Jesus told the disciples to be watchful when He was still with them? Jesus was actually preparing already His disciples for His eventual arrest and separation from them. And as they do their mission without Him, they should always do it with vigor, motivation and with clean intention. For He may manifest Himself again to them anytime, therefore they must never be complacent and passive.  

Today is the first Sunday of advent, this means coming or arrival of something very important. What is the significance of this command of Jesus for us? We too are being encouraged by Jesus to be watchful and prepared for His coming.  But how should we prepare?

First is by submitting ourselves to the Healing Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. All of us are sinful; we sin through our Thoughts, Words and Actions. These many sins that we commit make us ill-prepared for the coming of Jesus.   

Second is we have to forgive those who caused us pain,  if this tells us that we have to reach-out  to them in humility so be it. This is very difficult to do but if we say that we know Jesus then we must be prepared to embody Jesus. By doing so we bring Jesus to them and who knows it may be through us that they will have an awareness of the living presence of Jesus in their lives. 

Are we prepared to be watchful? - Marino J. Dasmarinas