Painting: Jan Richardson
Reading from the Gospel of Mark 13:33-37
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.
Reflection
The spirit of our times encourages us to speed up, all filled with anticipation minutes as a grain of sand in the machine. It suggests that all our needs must be met immediately, that waiting is absolutely impossible. We live in the mentality of the moment, yet it is important to know that those who cannot wait, who do not have the strength to endure the stresses, remains a prisoner of his own needs.
To wait, to stay alert, is to be able to see beyond beyond what is here and now. Waiting can teach us two things one is to be alert to the future. the horizon of the future; and secondly, to turn our attention to the things for which we are responsible at the moment. The great challenge of being a Christian is to develop these two aspects of watchful waiting, trusting in the promise of Christ, who "I am with you every day", and at the same time to be like the people who "wait for their Lord". No not always manage to hold on to the tension between these two things and to live rightly. But it is always possible to keep practising, to be ever more alert and present for ourselves, others and God.
Personal Reflection
- We are slowly approaching the middle of Lent. What has changed in my spiritual life, in my soul, since Ash Wednesday?
- Our Little Society is going through a period of transformation. It is a silent, deep formation. Waiting. How do I support this process?
We end this time of prayer with the prayer of Kathleen Hughes RSCJ for vocations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjjTUJG5nGc
Erika Tornya RSCJ (CEU)
