Be Careful

Luke 21: 34-36

Be Watchful 

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. ³⁵ For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

The Season of Advent begins with the Vigil Mass tonight, and the four following weeks will call us to prepare our hearts for the celebration of the Birth of Jesus.  It seems we have been in a period of penance and adjustment of our lives since March, an extra-long Advent, imposed on us by the Corona Virus.  Perhaps one of the blessings of the Pandemic is the readiness of our hearts because of our inactivity to be more open to the spirit of the season with its powerful readings from Isaiah, and it's call to review our lives and redirect them to the Messiah. We must be careful, we must be watchful for the temptations to push away the call to conversion, an on-going process, lest we be caught suddenly in a trap, such as self-pity, or selfish resistance, and miss the opportunity to deepen our relationship with others and with God. May we resolve now to "watch and pray" that we may be ready "to stand before the Son of Man.".

Bro. Rene