Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Be vigilant at all times.” He warns us to always be on guard. But on guard for what exactly? I think he encourages us to look for God’s invitations in our daily lives. We know people who seem to be living life on auto-pilot. Every day seems the same for these folks. They get up at the same time each morning, take the same route to work, and some even have the same thing for dinner. There is undoubtedly a grace to discipline and routine. There is a reason why most religious communities throughout history encourage such: discipline helps us pay more attention to God rather than the fine details of life. At the same time, routine can be distorted and keep “our hearts drowsy,” as Jesus says.
We can find ourselves in ruts in our lives. We might ourselves be living our lives on autopilot. We can come to believe the world to be fixed and static. Nothing is permitted to change lest it disrupts our cozy rhythm of life. Yet, God constantly invites us to grow and change - to become the best version of ourselves. And that takes awareness. It brings fresh eyes to see where and how God invites us to grow, which might disrupt our routines. One example might be we are used to seeing people begging on the road on the way to work. Over time, they can become part of the landscape where we can forget their humanity and begin to ignore them. But perhaps God is inviting us to pray for them, share our resources with them, or even just learn their name – and get to know Christ. One way to sharpen our awareness to see God’s action better is through the Examen prayer, typically done before bed, to reflect on God’s action in our day. Perhaps consider taking up this practice in Advent to become more vigilant of God’s activity in your life.