A crazy picture came into my mind when I was praying with the Lord’s words about watchfulness in today’s Gospel. It is a snapshot of a moment from a baseball game several years ago between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves. During the game a baseball bat went flying into the stands directly toward the head of a young fan. The picture captures the moment when a grown man sitting beside this young fan stuck out his arm to block the bat from hitting the boy right in the face. It perfectly captures the bat, his arm, and the kid’s face. What do you think was distracting the young fan? The smartphone can be seen in his hands. The attentiveness of this adult saved that boy from being knocked out by the bat.
I believe that is a fairly striking (pun intended) image to keep in mind as we begin our Advent journey together this year. All of us are called to attentiveness like that person who stuck out his arm to save the young boy. Too often we find ourselves in the position of that boy, so wrapped up in our own pursuits that we don’t realize when we are about to get slammed, spiritually speaking.
The Lord warns us to be attentive and watchful for His coming because He wants to be the one to strengthen us when He comes. His coming is for the sake of our good, and Jesus comes to us throughout our days. We tend to focus on the most obvious way that Jesus comes to us – at Mass – and yes, this is a great moment of encounter with the risen Lord. He does come to meet us profoundly here around this altar, but let us not forget that Jesus wants to come to us every day, as well. If Jesus weren’t already at work in our lives, we wouldn’t even be here to begin with. Yet so often we miss those times that Jesus wants to strengthen us with His daily grace. We pray in the Our Father, “give us this day our daily bread,” but are we looking for those times that Jesus wants to feed our souls with His grace at home, at school, at work, in the car, at the grocery store, with our friends.
Too often we spend our days “sleepwalking” in a sense, not taking the time to notice when Jesus taps on our shoulders through the Holy Spirit and invites us to lean into His grace. Jesus is always with us, and in certain moments He invites us to lean close to Him so that our hearts can be strengthened. When we allow Him to strengthen us in this way, we become more prepared to welcome Him when He comes again. None of us know when this Second Coming will take place, but we can be ready for it the more we lean into these daily comings of Jesus.
The reason Jesus warns us to watch out is that He is not the only one coming in our days. The truth is, we are all engaged in a battle during this life – a battle between us and the world, the flesh and the devil. When we find ourselves sleepwalking and missing out on the grace available to strengthen us, we become like that kid who was so wrapped up in his smartphone that he didn’t notice the baseball bat hurtling toward his head. Jesus calls us to be awake and watchful with Him, to daily lean into His grace, so that we can be strengthened to face down those temptations that come our way every day. I pray that this Advent does just that for each of us in the ways that we need it: that it is a time of strengthening by keeping watch with Jesus.
His grace allows the eyes of our hearts to be clear and watchful, ready to face the trials that come. When we allow Jesus’ grace to strengthen us in those ordinary, daily moments, it helps us to turn to Him for protection when the temptations come. With His help, no temptation stands a chance. So let’s make this Advent a time of strengthening. As we heard from the prophet Isaiah today: “Yet, O LORD, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.” Watching with Jesus helps our hearts to be formed anew by our Heavenly Father, making us ready to fight against the world, our fallen flesh and the devil both for ourselves and everyone whom God has given to our care. Our watchfulness not only benefits us, but can help us to be a shelter for others, helping them avoid those baseball bats of temptation that come their way.
The Lord comes to us throughout our lives because He knows our needs and weaknesses. He knows we need help and He is ready and willing to give it. So let’s all take the time to honestly assess our lives during this Advent season so that we can embrace Jesus, and with Him by our side, become watchful and ready for battle. Here are a few suggestions for ways to increase your watchfulness this Advent. Come back to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, especially if you’ve been away for a while. Making a good Confession clears away the grime of sin in our hearts so we can clearly recognize Jesus’ daily presence with us. Fast from something throughout Lent. We wear purple during Advent just like in Lent because it is also a penitential season. Fasting can help your heart be less preoccupied with the things of this world and thus more open to recognize those times when the Lord draws close during your day. Finally, and I know this may sound obvious, but pray daily! If you don’t already, carve out space in your day to just sit and speak heart to heart with the Lord. Even if it is just taking a few minutes at the beginning of your day to talk to Jesus about the people in your life, your struggles, and whatever is coming up that day, that time spent with Jesus will help your heart to remain open to His coming throughout the rest of that day.
I pray that as all of us walk together this Advent, we come to deeper watchfulness so that we can be strengthened by the Lord more and more.
+ Heavenly Father, thank you for the daily coming of your Son to us. Jesus, help us to be watchful with You so that we can be prepared for your second coming and be strengthened for the trials of our lives. Holy Spirit, help us not be caught spiritually sleepwalking, but with Your help, give us hearts which are awake and attentive to Jesus. +