This week’s gospel could be easily interpreted to instill fear or get us worried about end times. The first generations of Christians lived with a deep sense of expectation, fully anticipating that Jesus would return, and thus the world would end, sometime in their lifetimes. So often the message was similar to that of today’s gospel: live in vigilance, be on high alert, don’t be caught asleep or unprepared! And while there’s something to be learned from this message, I think today we can grasp a little deeper meaning from this idea. I love what Fr. Ronald Rolheiser has to say about being vigilant:
“Our real worry should not be that the world might suddenly end or that we might unexpectedly die, but that we might live and then die, asleep, that is, without really loving, without properly expressing our love, and without tasting deeply the real joy of living because we are so consumed by the business and busy pressures of living that we never quite get around to fully living. Hence being alert, awake, and vigilant in the biblical sense is not a matter of living in fear of the world ending or of our lives ending. Rather it is a question of having love and reconciliation as our chief concerns, of thanking, appreciating, affirming, forgiving, apologizing, and being more mindful of the joys of living in human community and within the sure embrace of God.”
During June and July, I had the privilege of watching many parishioners fully living, offering love and compassion - awake, not just to their own lives, but to the needs of others. We participated in a program called Family Promise, in which for two weeks, we hosted various families in the House of Mercy for meals and overnight stays while they worked their way through a program that helps them move from homelessness to permanent housing and a more stable lifestyle. I watched parishioners make delicious meals, prepared and served with love and care. I witnessed others organize games and craft projects that allowed the children to forget their current situations for a moment and just be kids. I worked with many others who did all the often unnoticed, behind the scenes work of organizing supplies, donating food and linens, or blowing up and taking down air mattresses. Basically, I witnessed exactly what Fr. Rolheiser talked about - people who stepped outside of their own busy lives and were fully awake to loving those around them.
It’s easy for all of us to get caught up in the monotony and busy-ness of everyday life, to fall asleep to the needs of others, to just simply go through the motions, forgetting to love deeply, forgive generously and to give freely. Let this week’s gospel be a reminder to us all that there are “Family Promise opportunities” all around us. May our prayer be that we are vigilant in being on the lookout for these opportunities and awake and willing to respond when God calls us!