be alert

burning oil lamp

Be Awake, Be Alert!

burning oil lamp

19th Sunday Ordinary Time

Fr. Mark Gatto

Preached: August 7, 2022

Are we in the end times?   When will be the second coming?  These questions do not seem very useful to me, they do not interest me at all.  The only useful question is, “am I ready to welcome God coming to me today, in this moment?”  Are you ready to be a host for God?

Last Saturday night Fr. Patras, our Associate Pastor, William, our seminarian and myself hosted a couple guests for dinner.  I put William in charge of preparing for this.  He set up a menu, did shopping for groceries, had the table prepared for dinner.  He did the cooking and we were prepared with drinks to offer when they arrived.  I told him that hosting a dinner with guests is good training for a seminarian!  We were all prepared when the guests arrived.

Hosting guests to your home requires some preparation, some work.  You need to make sure there is food and drink in the house, you do some cooking, probably clean the house.  You want to be ready for when they arrive.  Imagine knowing that guests were coming to your house, but you did nothing at all.  The moment they arrive at the door you are in bed, in your pyjamas.  You answer the door like that.  Then you go to the fridge and you do not have anything to prepare a meal and no drinks to offer.  How would your guests feel?

For each one of us, the spiritual life is about being ready, being awake, preparing ourselves to welcome the Divine Creator into our lives.  Listen to the words Jesus uses in this Gospel today, “Be dressed for action,” “will the master find you alert?” We are to become a host for the living God.  Make a home within ourselves prepared for this guest in our life.  What will God find us doing when coming to visit us?

Every day be ready to host God in your life.  Pay attention, be awake.  How is God coming to you in this moment, in this day, in this person?  The important question is not, “are we in the end times? or when will the Lord return?”  The important question is if we will be ready and paying attention when the Lord comes to us in this moment.

We have church buildings, we have sacraments, we pray, as ways to prepare our hearts to be a host for God.  But, it is not that God is only found in churches, or religious events or when we are praying.  God can be experienced and found in every place, in every person, in every experience.  But, we need to be awake, we need to pay attention, we need to have ourselves prepared for the experience of God’s grace visiting us.

Be alert to the ways God will be visiting you.  In good and bad times.  In ordinary and unexpected moments.  Perhaps in a piece of music that moves you, or in a movie that causes you to reflect, or in the meeting of a stranger, or in a simple meal shared at home with family

So, do not worry about the end times or when the Lord will return.  Only be sure to prepare your heart and soul to be a good host for God visiting you in your life.  As Jesus says, “will you be found alert?”

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sad

What Weighs Down Your Heart?

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First Sunday of Advent

Fr. Mark Gatto

Preached: November 28, 2021

Last week I saw a survey of Catholic priests in the USA.  One thing that struck me was that 51% of the priests who did the survey said that they were pessimistic about state of the church in the USA.  I would guess that there might be a similar result if such a survey was done with priests in Canada.

I also saw another survey of Protestant ministers also in the USA that indicated that 55% find it easy to be discouraged.  Not a good sign when the pastors and leaders in Christianity are discouraged and not very hopeful.

Then we hear the words of Jesus in this Gospel for the First Sunday of Advent.  “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation,…, and the worries of this life.”  Dissipation means to scatter or waste.  It is possible for us to waste our life, waste our faith, being overcome by the worries of this life.  Allowing ourselves to give in to discouragement and seeing only the problems and difficulties of life.  What weighs down your hearts?

God has made promises for our salvation, the Prophet Jeremiah speaks of the promise of God for our salvation, our well-being.  God wants to save us, wants our well-being.  But, we can begin to give in to bad news, focus on disappointments and failings, become discouraged, worrying about all that is happening in the world, and in the church, and in our life.  Very easily we can miss out on the grace of God that is around us.

The Season of Advent is a time of waiting, a time of preparation.  We are preparing our hearts and souls to celebrate Christmas joyfully.  We are preparing ourselves to be awake to the good news of salvation, to recognize the grace of God coming to us.  We need to watch that our hearts are not weighed down, giving in to discouragement, pessimism.

It is for this reason that we hear Jesus warning us, “Be on guard, be alert.”

What can we do to be alert, to be on our guard, to not give in to discouragement, to not waste our life and our faith?  How do we watch that our hearts are not weighed down?  I will list four things that are spiritually helpful for us.

Prayer.  This seems so basic and so simple.  Of course we should pray.  But, many of us struggle to pray.  Many find it difficult.  If you are struggling to find time to pray or to know how to pray, then keep it really simple to start.  When you get up in the morning, a simple prayer, maybe just a sign of the cross, to begin the day in the presence of God.  Before you go to bed at night finish the day with a simple prayer.  Maybe three Hail Marys or again just a sign of the cross.  In this way you would begin and end your day in the presence of God.

Silence.  There are so many distractions in our lives today, it is important to take time for a moment of silence.  Begin with just a couple minutes.  Close your eyes, turn everything off, and sit in silence in the presence of God.  Listen to the calm that comes from Jesus within us.

Watch and read things that are life giving, encouraging.  Find something to read that is uplifting, encouraging, positive.  Feed our inner life by positive, life-giving sources.  Some of you may want to read one of the Gospels during this season of Advent.

Find good friends in the faith to share the journey.  It is hard to live a Christian life all by ourselves.  It is so helpful to have at least someone who shares the faith and with whom you can share together in this journey.

Jesus tells us to “Be on guard.”  Do not let our hearts be weighed down.  What is it that weighs down your heart?  Be alert to keep your hearts light.  I have given four things to help us keep our hearts from being weighed down by the worries of life.  Prayer, Silence, watching and reading things that are uplifting, and finding friends to share the journey of faith.  Be on your guard, keep your hearts light.

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