A Life that Watches (Watching for Jesus 5)

Scripture for Reflection: Matthew 25:31-46

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“[Advent] is not just about commemorating the historical event... Instead, we must understand that our whole life should be an ‘advent,’ in vigilant expectation of Christ’s final coming. To prepare our hearts to welcome the Lord...we must learn to recognize his presence in the events of daily life.”

 ~ Pope John Paul II (from The Mosaic Bible)

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 “For those who listen for Christ’s coming, a knock sounds over and over again. The things that come forth are not necessarily highly spiritual. Sometimes they are simple things. For instance, we may be told, ‘Don’t neglect your bodies. Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? (I Cor. 3:16) Why do you drink so much wine? Why do you eat so much food?’ This seems contemptibly small. Yet for those who want to hear, there is a knock on the door for the coming future of Jesus Christ telling us to live for God in everything (I Cor. 10:31). It is not only your souls that matter, but your bodies too. This is what it means to watch. We have to begin with what we see.

The work for God goes on quite simply in this way; one does not always have to wait for something out of the ordinary. The all-important thing is to keep your eyes on what comes from God and to make way for it to come into being here on earth. If you always try to be heavenly and spiritually minded, you won’t understand the everyday work God has for you to do. But if you embrace what is to come from God, if you live for Christ’s coming in practical life, you will learn that divine things can be experienced here and now, things quite different from what our human brains can ever imagine. 

Whoever is wise will open the door when God’s messengers speak about this. Whoever is wise will go about it joyfully and confidently.”

 ~ Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt (adapted from Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas)