Month: November 2021

As my family walked down the aisle to receive Holy Communion, I noticed my three-year-old approach the Eucharistic Minister with hands folded. When he reached her, he looked up at her with pleading eyes, hoping she would give him the sacred host. Instead, she placed her hand on top of his head, giving him a quick blessing. He turned away and began whining, then crying. He wanted to receive so badly! And while I know full well that he has no understanding of the Body of Christ just yet, I was touched by his yearning. 

Going to Mass and receiving Communion is one of the most powerful ways of praying, but what does it mean to “pray always” as Jesus talks about in today’s Gospel? 

Perhaps beginning with a morning offering to give our whole day to Christ.  Perhaps repeating the Jesus prayer over and over. Perhaps attending daily Mass. Perhaps fingering a rosary bracelet throughout the day. Perhaps offering up our daily chores, work, care of children, etc. to God for some intention. There are so many ways to pray!

But I question whether or not Jesus really meant by “pray always” to pray at every single minute of the day. I mean, He knows more than anyone how human we are. He knows we must attend to our tasks and that our hearts are not lifted up to Him 24/7. He knows that we often forget our Creator. 

Perhaps He meant rather, that we should always turn to Him in prayer. Pray when you are happy. Pray when you are sad. Pray in praise. Pray in Thanksgiving. Pray when you are in need. Pray when others are in need. Pray for the salvation of your soul and the souls of others. Whatever the situation may be, turn to God in prayer. 

Our souls thirst for God and he longs for us to come to Him. And whether our prayer be consistent, persistent, or scattered here and there, may we remember to pray always. 

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“They were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building.” Today, maybe Jesus would say, “They were eating, drinking, watching, posting, zooming, working.” The days’ regular activities may have changed somewhat from when Jesus explored the idea of His second coming, but things really aren’t all that different.

Notice how in both lists, none of the activities listed include any type of worship, adoration or service to others. These are all inward-focused actions, though to be sure there are communal benefits to some of them. I am curious if Jesus’ message would have been softer, maybe less surprising, if the people had been regularly engaging in proper worship and kept themselves in right relationship with God. 

Jesus says people will be going about their days, looking down and looking in. Then, suddenly, things will radically change. People will be taken up without their neighbor’s knowledge. There will be no time to finish a harvest, send one more email, or pack a suitcase. When the Lord comes, there is no turning back, no second glances. 

This takes some planning, it takes practice. It means that your everyday life ought to be lived within an extra-ordinary reality. Yes, we must eat and drink. But we can do so in a manner that acknowledges God’s good gifts. Yes, we need to work, and in many cases, zoom or otherwise use technology to connect with others. But we do so in a way that does not put the technology first. God remains in our center, prayer before posting, Mass before mass email blasts. 

Jesus is speaking to us today. He is asking us to look at our priorities, our to-do lists. Where does He fit in? What are the most important things to get done today? How can you be prepared for His coming?

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In the first Star Wars movie made, “A New Hope,” the rebel forces (the good guys) are trying to destroy the formidable Death Star. On a mission to fire a shot into its only significant vulnerable point, one of the fighter jets barrels down a dangerous trench on the surface of the Death Star—enemies following closely on his tail. Suddenly, the flyer of the fighter jet starts to panic.  His fellow pilot exhorts his comrade in a steady, firm tone to, “Stay on target!” The first pilot continues to waver, and again, his companion urges him, “Stay on target!” (Spoiler alert…they are ultimately victorious.)

Today’s gospel reading reminds me of this scene from Star Wars. It is Jesus himself who reminds us to “stay on target.”

When the world seems to be going haywire, we, like the people in today’s Gospel reading, start to ask Jesus, “When, Lord, can we expect things to be put right? How much longer can this go on?” We are assaulted on every side: sex trafficking, gender ideology, terrorism, and even the buying and selling of aborted baby parts. “How long” indeed! There are no clear answers from our Lord to this question, but he remains faithful and so should we.

We do know that “the day of the Lord” will come unexpectedly, like the flood came in Noah’s time. Jesus warns his disciples, and he warns us, that we must not become distracted. “Do not go off, do not run in pursuit” of some sort of false messiah or sensational “answer to all our problems”.

We need to focus on the basics…that never changes. We are called by Christ to be steady, to continue as his faith followers, growing in virtue, keeping his commandments, abounding in charity. In the fight against the most formidable enemy we will ever have, we must “stay on target.” As it says in the Book of Proverbs 4:25-27, “Let your eyes look straight ahead and your gaze be focused forward. Turn neither to right nor to left…” Herein lies our victory!

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