Stay awake

Be watchful; stay awake; stand with confidence. These are the words that Jesus wanted his disciples to hear as they drew near to Jerusalem and the end of his mission, just prior to his passion. He could see what lay ahead for himself—the path to the cross. And he wanted to put before his friends the way in which they could face into the world following his death and resurrection.

Be watchful; stay awake; stand with confidence. They sound a bit like commandments, don’t they? And that’s a reasonably good way we might receive the same words from Jesus.

The watching, as Jesus indicated, was so that we be alert to how the cares of the world can drag us down. There is the lure of worldly things all about us. They seem enticing but prove to be meaningless. They do not offer hope. To these alluring but empty things in life, Jesus asked us to be on the watch, so that hope might be a mark of our lives. For hope does not disappoint.

Staying awake, said Jesus, was so that we might live in a manner that gives us strength to live well. He pointed to how this awakening is by way of prayer—by being close to God’s grace and the life God wants for us. Pray constantly, St Paul once exhorted his friends; stay awake, says Jesus to us. They mean basically the same thing. Being attentive to God each day, not being asleep to his presence and grace among us, is our path to a holy life. It is an opening to faith and trust that the way of Christ is the way to life. For faith is an anchor.

Stand with confidence, said Jesus, but do so before God. Our Creator made us in his image and likeness, that we might have the dignity to stand confidently before him. We have been made for God’s kingdom of love and peace. We might come to God on knees of penance, but he draws us up to stand before his mercy. He gives us his love, that we might stand before the world, where the healing that come from loving is so needed. For love will endure.

Be watchful in hope. Stay awake in faith. Stand confidently in love. These are the words Jesus wants for us as we enter this new Church year. They are the words God has always wanted for his beloved, us weak and battered and tied humanity.

Think of the people we will meet on our Advent journey towards the Lord’s nativity: John the Baptist, the hopeful one who watched for the coming of the Lamb of God; Joseph, the faithful one who stayed awake for the good of his wife and the child she carried; and Mary, the loving one who stood up to say yes, confident that God would be with her, and in her.

Think of the opening prayer of our Mass today, which we perhaps passed over too quickly:

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming.

Our watchfulness, our wakefulness, our standing up—all these will give us the resolve we wish for, so as to run ahead to meet Christ.