Stay Awake! This is the alarm of our time. Life has a way of seducing us into the world concerned with itself and able to see beyond. I recall our travels to the Holy Land and entering the Garden of Gethsemane. It was quiet time for reflection. I grabbed a chair and sat to pray. Soon my eyes got heavy and I started to doze off. Like the disciples who Jesus admonished, “can’t you stay awake” one hour with me? My spirit was willing but my flesh was weak.
To be awake is not about sleep but our readiness to respond. People are already comparing the response in Texas to hurricane Harvey with the response to hurricane Katrina. Katrina had two disasters, the hurricane was the first but the lack of readiness to respond was the second. Texas has had equal if not greater devastation than Katrina but the response has been tremendous so far. We cannot control nature but we can prepare even for the unimaginable. We must pray not only for the lives lost and those who must begin the long journey of recovery, but also for those first responders many who are volunteers prepared to respond who have kept their candle burning to give the light of hope.
The gospel of Mathew on the ten Virgins (Mt 25:1-13) is often used for Quincianeras (15th birthday celebration). An analogy can be made of this gospel in our readiness to respond. First there are 10 virgins and ten is a sign of totality. The Lord wants all to be saved and we are all created for Him. Only five are ready for the bridegroom five were foolish. To be asleep is to be unprepared. Jesus calls us to be the light of the world, to reflect his image that he may recognize in us his love. Our lamp is our soul that shines with the love of joy, peace, kindness, generosity, and many other graces. The bridegroom is Jesus, the way the truth, and the life we all seek. If the lamp is our soul then what is the oil? Oil is a source of fuel for cooking, it nourishes the body. Oil is also used in church for anointing, a visible sign of salvation. The oil in our lamps needed to give light is our good works. The foolish virgin had no oil of good works to offer Jesus as a visible sign of their faith, hope, and love. The wise virgins were prepared their good works were a light for Jesus to recognize. We have ten Commandments not to pick the five we want to obey but all of them reflect good works. The New Testament in James 2:26 says, “just as the body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” Thus the law, faith and works all go together. “What good is it my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well’ but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works is dead.” (Jam. 2:14-17)
In one week a healthy man who had given years of volunteer work at a hospital went home and choked on something and died. He was always ready to help and give of himself He was recognized for his works of charity, God recognized his faith. Then in the same week a woman in her 60s in the hospital is being taken off life support. Then there is a request for a memorial service for a 94 year old who passed away. It begs to ask the question we all need to ask. “Am I ready?” Death does not make appointments. Someone made the comment, “If you are not ready to die, then you have not been ready to live.” We are to live each day as if it is our first, our last, our only day to offer up to God.
Recently this all became very real to me personally. With the recent eclipse I began having severe headaches for two days the on the third day I was having lunch with my wife and a friend. I began to choke could not breath and my face started to change color (they tell me). Our friend started to do the Heimlich maneuver on me. Each of those experiences begged the question, “Am I ready?” Death is like a thief at night. It is a reminder to be the best that God created us to be. To live each day with passion as if it is the first, the last, the only day we have. That day may be this day and we want to be ready to be an offering of ourselves. Some things we cannot control but what we can we are to work to be perfect as God calls us to be and they will know that he is with us and we are in Him.
Little Jacinto, Saint Jacinto now was asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” He said “I want to die and go to heaven.” We can say he was born ready, but the Blessed Mother said he had to do many rosaries. Let us pray for readiness each moment of life.
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