Jesus said to his disciples: "Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake -- for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, my king and master, you help me to be alert to your presence in my life. You told your disciples to keep watch and stay alert. These words are also for me. With a greater faith, hope and love I can recognize the acts of your provident hands and be faithful to your will.

Petition: Help me to stay vigilant and on the watch to receive you in the many ways in which you make yourself present in my life.

1. Keep Alert. We stay alert for things that are to come, the past does not keep us alert and more often puts us to sleep. Jesus is pointing us ahead. Our faith is not just a rummaging in the past, it is centered not just a Christ who has been, but especially on a Christ who is always coming out to meet us, for whom we have to keep watch, and a Christ who will come again at the end of time. Gods grace often surprises us with new opportunities and new presence. Jesus is asking us to look ahead. A certain expectation, tension, is necessary; not the expectation born of anxiety but of hope, anticipation, excitement for the next encounter. The excitement of a work to do. Lord Jesus, your words remind me of this truth. You are always looking ahead, I too often look back. I thank you for your message because it reminds me how important it is for me to keep awake, that is, to focus on what is ahead and not what I am leaving behind.

2. You Do Not Know When the Master of the House Will Come. These words drive home an important point: I am not in control of my life. I often make the mistake of thinking that I have everything together and under control. It is not so. I need to surrender the reins of my life and place them in the hands where they belong, Christs. He is the master of my life and my time. He has allotted the time I have on earth, and he is the one who has placed a particular mission in my hands: He put his servants in charge, each with his work. He has a task for me in building his Kingdom, but I do not know how much time I have to do it.

But there are other comings of Christ that he tells us about in the gospel, comings that we easily miss, and so we have to be on watch if we are to recognize him and receive him: when he comes to us in the hidden form of a neighbor that needs help, a person that needs a kind word, an enemy I need to forgive, for as often as you did it to one of these, you did it to me. 

3. Keep awake! When Jesus was praying in Gethsemane, he asked his apostles to pray with him, to watch and pray so they would not fall into temptation, and he went away. Each time he came back to them he found them asleep, their eyes were heavy with sleep, and they found it difficult to watch even one hour with him. Jesus is asking us to be always on the watch. It is not easy, and Jesus knows it isnt. St Paul tells the Thessalonians, But you, brothers, do not live in the dark, that the Day should take you unawares like a thief. No, you are all children of light and children of the day: we do not belong to the night or to darkness, so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else does, but stay wide awake and sober (1Thes 5:4-6). This is our constant challenge, not to get lulled into complacency. It means being awake to recognize him as he makes himself present to us in the small things in life, so as to be ready to meet him in the big decisions, and at the final hour of our life.

Conversation: Lord Jesus, my life is nothing but a fleeting moment. Help me to always remember that to live with you forever in heaven; I must be first completely united with you on earth.

Questionnaire:

1. How alert would I say I am, how much do I look forward in my spiritual life rather than backward?

2. What would I say the particular mission God has given me is? Do I have it figured out, and am I willing to live it?

3. Am I awake to Gods action in my life, or am I complacent and careless as regards the small things that can please him?