Aug 30., 2018 / General, Homilies, News & Announcements, Soul Food, Updates and Activities
Be on guard
Homily of Fr. Joel Liwanag, S.J. on August 30, 2018 at the Cenacle Retreat House:
My dear brothers and sisters,
the message of Jesus in today’s Gospel is loud and clear: Stay awake! Be on guard! Don’t fall into complacency because you do not know when the master is coming.
The question, however, is: HOW? How do we stay awake? How do we avoid falling into a spiritual slumber? How do we make sure that when the master comes, we will be ready?
To answer this question, I guess we need to go back to our experiences of staying awake. In our ordinary life, how do we stay awake? What is it that keeps us awake? This morning, allow me to call attention to three ways.
First, we usually stay awake by taking in caffeine – by drinking coffee or soft drinks or some other energy drink. Those among you who’ve had to stay up late to finish something have probably tried this.
If we apply this to our spiritual life, one way to stay awake is to find something that will perk up our faith. Some, for instance, would join charismatic prayer groups and participate in livelier forms of worship.
Golden Silence By Shawna Erback
Others would go on a silent retreat and spend days in quiet prayer. Some would try to incorporate music into their prayer routine. The point my dear friends is to find something that will awaken the spirit within us every now and then.
I invite you now to ask yourself: how is my faith life, my spiritual life, my prayer life? If you find yourself in some sort of plateau, if you find your faith life lacking in dynamism, perhaps you can ask yourself: what can I do to perk up the spirit within? What can I do to keep the spirit alive?
Aside from taking in caffeine, another way to stay awake is by surrounding ourselves with friends who can keep us company. Those among you who’ve experienced long distance driving know how helpful it is to have a companion who will engage you in a conversation throughout the journey.
Friends Forever by Debra Hurd
My dear friends, in our spiritual life, one way through which we can keep ourselves awake is by having friends who are willing to accompany us in our journey of faith. I guess this is really the value of community. If you are part of a community, someone will be there to remind you when you are going astray. Someone will be there to wake you up the moment you are starting to doze off.
Ask yourself now: Do I have such friends? Do I have such companions who can help me stay awake?
Finally, the third way through which we usually stay awake is by keeping ourselves busy.
If we are occupied, if we are busy doing things, the lesser the chances for us to fall asleep. But if we are idle, if we are doing nothing, then the tendency to doze off is strong.
In our spiritual life, we can say that it is similar. When our spiritual life is idle, then we fall into a spiritual slumber. As the saying goes, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” The key therefore is to find something worthwhile to do, something that can keep our faith alive. In the Letter of James, it is written: “Faith without good works is dead.” Thus, one way to keep our faith alive is to engage in good works, for instance, by doing corporal works of mercy – feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the sick. My dear friends, if we want to keep our faith truly alive, then we cannot but engage in good works.
I invite you to ask yourself now: Is my faith kept alive by good works? What good works am I engaged in at the moment? If you find yourself lacking in this area, it’s not too late. Try to find something worthwhile make your faith come to life.
And so, my dear friends, as our Lord Jesus invites us to stay awake, let us keep in mind these three ways through which we can do this: first, by finding something that will perk up our spiritual life. Second, by findinf friends who can accompany us in our faith journey. And third, by engaging in good works that will keep our faith alive. Let us pray that when the Master comes, we will all be awake, ready to meet Him and say: Lord, we have kept our faith alive. Amen.
