
First Sunday in Advent
Keep Watch!
“You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the household will return –in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak. Don’t let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. I say to you what I say to everyone. Watch for him!” Mark 13:35-37
———————————–
This Thanksgiving let us be thankful for our lives, and for an opportunity to give thanks, and as we do let us remember that a microscopic virus has reminded us of our common humanity and how interdependent we are all of God’s creation. We all can get sick, we all will die, and we at times hang on to hope by a thread. On this storm-tossed sea, we need to depend on one another.
As we enter Advent let us remember that we “must keep watch!”
Keep watch in remembering in the words of Jackie Robinson that “A life is not important except in the impact it has on others.”
We impact the lives of others through forgiveness. Dr. James Cone once said, “forgiveness is a form of ‘deep spiritual resistance.'” Forgiveness lets us be free, free to move on, free to care for others without resentment. During Advent let us “watch” and see where we need to forgive. Let us keep hate from corroding our joy.
Let us “watch” our words, letting them be free of gossip, criticism, and bitterness. Let us”watch” our words on social media, behind the backs of individuals, and to the faces of others.
Let us “stay awake” to what is ultimately important and to the truth that God is with us even when most everything in our lives and in the world seems to be going belly up. Advent invites us to be watchful and awake to what ultimately matters in life. Let us pray:
Lord, help me to hear you saying, “I am your hope” over all other voices. Lord, your word says, you are the hope for the hopeless so I’m running to you with both hands stretched out and grabbing on to you. Fill me up with hope and give me a tangible reminder today that hope is an unbreakable spiritual lifeline (Hebrews 6:19-20). God, you know those things in my heart that I barely dare to hope for, today. I give them to you, I trust them to you and ask that you because I know that you can do more than I could ever guess, imagine, or request in wildest dreams (Eph. 3:20), God, you are my hope and I trust you. Amen. Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!
————————————————-
Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.
Temenos Catholic Worker