Gospel: Matthew 24:37-44
Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, 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.
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Reflection:
What does it mean to stay awake? It means to always be ready for anything that may come to us. Does this mean that when we are ready we would be able to handle whatever that may come to us?
For example a tragedy in the family, would we be able to handle it? Yes and no. Yes we would be able to handle it if we always have a connection with Jesus. No, we may not be able to handle it if we are not connected with Jesus.
Today is the first Sunday of advent, advent means arrival or coming of somebody who is important and this is none other than Jesus. We therefore have to be prepared for His coming by intensifying our relationship with Him. We have to steer away from anything that would make us sin, we have to listen more to Jesus than to this world.
If this world dictates us that we have to be materially prepared for the coming birth of Jesus. Jesus is asking us to be more spiritually prepared by repenting from all forms of sinfulness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, by reconciling ourselves with those whom we have offended and so forth. For what good it will do us if we are materially prepared yet we are spiritually unprepared?
When we go to the malls we would see the heightened worldly preparation for the coming birth of the Lord. New gadgets are on sale, other material things are also there to entice us to buy it. The best Christmas lights and decoration will also be present to capture our attention.
However, Jesus is telling us that we have to stay awake by not allowing ourselves to be deceived by the commercialization of HIS season. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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