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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.”
Reflection
The readings selected for the start of the four weeks of the Advent season include this Gospel that offers a stark and urgent warning from Jesus himself.
As I sat with the emotions that stirred within me after I read it, I found myself reaching for a special resource in my home prayer space. It is a deck of inspirational quotes culled from Mary Oliver’s opus.
The collection is packaged under the title Instructions for living a life. The first card in the deck had this quote from “Sometimes” in her poetry book entitled Red Bird. “Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
Might those simple instructions capture the essence of today’s Gospel? I believe that they do as I think that Jesus himself is offering us instructions for living our lives as he lived his. In this season of Advent, we are preparing to remember and to celebrate Christ’s coming among us.
This preparation requires a certain spiritual readiness from us and the four weeks of Advent can be a blessed time for us to be aware of every encounter as a moment of grace to experience God’s presence with us.
Advent is also about preparing for Christ’s return in glory at the end of time, and in welcoming his arrival in our hearts each and every day. We are to pay attention to how we are living our lives.
What is meaningful? Where have we become complacent? What are our routines that impede our fully embracing a state of spiritual readiness?
In the Scripture passage from Matthew, Jesus uses the Noah story to make his point about the ease of becoming complacent in our relationship with God.
In response to a complacency that may be commandeering our lives and compromising our relationship with God, he delivers his powerful command “stay awake!”
Rather than inspiring fear within and among us, he is calling us to a stance of vigilance, desiring to awaken a longing within us for God.
It is a call to be mindful, to be present, to recognize that God is at work in our world and in our lives right now, in the midst of our ordinary life.
At this time of the year this means looking beyond the superficial preparations for Christmas and examining the state of our hearts.
It means turning away from the things that distract us from God’s ways of peace and justice, and turning towards the spiritual practices that nourish our souls.
We can do this by prioritizing time for prayer, practicing more self-control, and seeking reconciliation with God and with those around us.
Advent is a season of hope, but it is not a passive hope. It is an active waiting, a constant state of watchfulness. It is a joyful anticipation of the coming of Christ.
Our attentiveness offers us the potential be astonished, astonished at the frequency of the “where and when moments” that can serve to remind us that God is present with us.
They may be the quiet moments of our daily lives, times spent in nature or with children or grandchildren, with old friends, when serving the homeless, or in the celebration of the Eucharist.
Our astonishment at God’s presence is God’s call to us to embody God’s universal and unconditional love for all.
Action
Practice silence and solitude. In a season often filled with noise, intentionally set aside time for quiet. We can start with a few digital-free minutes each day.
Make a conscious decision to follow Mary Oliver’s guidance in her Instructions for life: “Tell about it.”
Use whatever medium (art, prose, poetry, music, companioning, etc.) that best conveys your experience of God’s presence with you and share it with another person as appropriate.
If you maintain a journal, you might reflect about your “God sightings.”
Originally from Philadelphia, Linda had a 25-year career as a navy nurse. She then served as a parish adult faith formation coordinator, an on-call hospital chaplain and a hospice bereavement specialist. A Providence Associate since 2007, Linda lives in San Clemente, California with her husband, Randy, and their 2 cats.
Thank you for your reflection, Linda. I am intrigued by your Mary Oliver Prayer resource! A really active and creative example you share with all of us about your own practice of paying attention and staying awake.
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Thank you for your reflection, Linda. I am intrigued by your Mary Oliver Prayer resource! A really active and creative example you share with all of us about your own practice of paying attention and staying awake.