Is. 63:16-17, 19b, 64:2-7; Ps. 80: 2-3, 15-16, 18-19; 1 Cor. 1:3-9; Mk. 13:33-37
“Be watchful!” in mindfulness. We begin the new year in the Church this first Sunday of Advent mindful of a year overtaken by a pandemic and watchful of a continued virus threatening the world. The Lord also calls us to be both mindful of the Lord “in our ways” and watchful in this the year of the Lord for his coming.
“Mindfulness” is the current cultural trend in wellness as something new. We learn however from today’s first reading that mindfulness is as old as the book of Isaiah in the words “that we were mindful of you (Lord) in our ways”. In mindfulness the focus is remaining in the present awareness not only of your inner being but also of your “watchful” eye around you. This keen awareness allows for the eye of the soul to focus on what matters apart from the noise that steals our attention cluttered with worries, temptations, constant distractions, and mindless activity aimed at filling in for the silence and avoiding the presence of God.
We believe in the presence of God and we say “God is in control” but do we remain mindful of his presence in all “our ways”? We must recall “our ways” are not his ways and here lies the great divide between what we profess and “our ways”. Our ways focus on “self” according to pleasure, power, prestige, and profit. However, the gospel of Mark reminds us “For what would it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? (Mark 3:86)”. The higher purpose of “mindfulness” is to unite our “self” to God’s way. Our watchfulness is to see the hand of God at work in our ways and give glory and honor to our God.
God’s way is to remain mindful of him as “our father, our redeemer”. Mindful of God our father we recognize him as the “potter” and “we are the clay” seeking to form us in his loving hands into his image of love. As a loving father he molds us by grace with all the spiritual gifts to enter into “fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord”. Mindful of God our redeemer is awareness “we are sinful…and our guilt carries us away like the wind”. Mindfulness of God allows us to also recognize the evil one coming in fear, temptation, distraction and mindless activity to separate us from the love of God.
Mindfulness is to be watchful “as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ”. In mindfulness we remain watchful “for the Lord hears the cry of the poor” and our poverty lies in our separation from all that is truth, unity, good, and beauty. This is our separation from the love of God. Be watchful for the coming of the Lord to lead us along the path of righteousness, to answer our prayers, to give us the grace to respond in our trials with the power of his love. Be watchful as the Lord comes to destroy what is evil, to destroy the enemy of death, to purify the soul for the final coming to lead us home.
In mindfulness there is an awareness that all things matter in spirit and truth. This includes the awareness of sin. We don’t live by the rule “I did not kill anyone” as if avoiding mortal sin is all that matters. It recognizes if all things matter the smallest of venial sin matters in our awareness of having offended thee O’ Lord. The evil one tries to convince us “no harm done” if we lie a little, cheat a little, steal a little after all when we did it when we were little it was cute. Soon we believe no harm done in little things and become immune to bigger things.
When I was little, we were poor but I didn’t know it. Most of my toys were made up from my imagination until Christmas when Salvation Army came by to drop off a box with toys from stores. One day my mother went to visit one of her friends who had children. I saw all these toys in the house. When we got home my mother noticed I was acting different. She asked me, “what’s the matter?” in Spanish. I said “nada” meaning nothing and started walking backwards. I lead her to the bed where I had hidden a toy I took from the other children as I kept saying “nada”. She made me take it back and treated it as not so cute. Has your child ever taken a candy at the store and you made them take it back or was it just not worth it after all it is just a little thing?
Mindfulness is not obsessiveness. Bad politicians like to say “never let a crisis go to waste”. The devil could not have said it any better. In this pandemic we see mental health issues, a rise in depression, addictions, anxiety, and suicide. This is especially a time to be mindful of the evil ones’ opportunity to bring chaos into our relationships. The evil one will lead your mindfulness to obsession and neurosis. We are mindful of safety precautions with a virus and act prudently to protect ourselves but obsession creates such fear of germs as to become obsessed with washing of hands that it leads to neurosis.
As an introvert being intra-mindful is more natural than extra-mindful. An introvert is simple task oriented focused on going deeper in spiritual awareness at the risk of not losing awareness of the beauty around us. For an extravert it is more natural to be extra-mindful and better at multi-tasking to see the hand of God at work around us. Whether we are being intro or extra-verts, God is above us, beneath us, behind us, before us and remains within us for our awareness as we go about our ways.
Father Miguel Marie from the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal on EWTN whenever he celebrates mass says “as if this was the first time, the last time, the only time”. This is love. This is an awareness of the significance of the moment of the presence of God. Mass is an act of thanksgiving for the sacrifice of Jesus on the altar. Each moment of life comes once at this time and moves us closer to the eternal. Be watchful!
Until the hour of his coming we are to be mindful of our Lord in all our ways in order to be ready to receive him in all our heart, soul, and mind. Who can we turn to in as our reminder of true mindfulness more than Our Blessed Mother who did all things with her watchful eyes of love toward her son. Thus, be watchful of his coming and mindful of his presence that we may follow his way to the eternal glory of God.
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