BE WATCHFUL! BE ALERT!

BE WATCHFUL! BE ALERT!

November 29, 2020: A Reflection for the First Sunday of Advent, Year B

Mark 13:33-37

…he orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. (Mk 13:36)

Today we open the door and take our first step into the Season of Advent. And what is the first word that the liturgy offers us but “Watch!” That is a very loaded word, isn’t it? There are different ways of watching for someone. One way could be out of fear – fear of the person we are watching for, or fear of punishment, – on and on goes the list. We can also watch for someone out of anticipation born of love – a relationship filled with promise and trust – that keeps us vigilant for the slightest sound or movement signaling the coming of the beloved. This is the meaning of our Advent “watch.” It is also the meaning of the contemplative way.

Lord Jesus, you are always “coming” to us. What the contemplative life teaches is how to watch for your coming, how to recognize you and welcome you. There is a song which reflects this watching and seeing. It goes, “I’ll see you in the morning sun and when the night is new. I’ll be looking at the moon, but I’ll be seeing you.” That is seeing born of love. It is also desire, so much a part of monastic life. You are completely present to us in every moment, person and particle of creation, Jesus. Being watchful stretches us into the vulnerability of love and deepens us into the journey of transformation through yielding to your presence in one another, the needs and sufferings of our world, and our planet so much at the mercy of our choices. We are all one at the center of our being and once we recognize our unity which bears your face at the center, our lives are forever unfolding in charity through the transformation born of watchfulness.

There is a Mexican symbol called the Ojo de Dios, The Eye of God. Watching goes both ways. God watches for us, too. God’s way of watching is one of a loving Father who has only the good of the child in view. You don’t watch us in order to accuse us and condemn us, Father. On the contrary. You watch out for us “lest we dash our foot against a stone.” You pick us up after a fall and kiss away our hurts. That is the Ojo de Dios. The loving eye of God. It is to this watchful God that we can turn with complete trust.