BE VIGILANT AT ALL TIMES

Luke 21:34-36

The liturgical year of the Church is about to end and New Year is coming tomorrow. New Year in the sense that tomorrow will be the First Sunday of Advent, the first day of a new liturgical year of the Church. And this theme of the end of time is seen in the readings of this week; like for example, in today’s gospel Jesus telling to us to be vigilant at all times and to pray.

Though we are at the end of times, Jesus brings us back to earth, where we still have to live our lives. It is a reminder to us that the triumphant coming of the Son of Man has not yet taken place and we do not know when this will happen. In other words, the story of our lives is not yet over. We still need prayer and vigilance so that we may not be trapped in our daily duties.

We still need to be vigilant against the evil spirit and his temptation in the world. It is because the evil spirit is very real in our ordinary daily living if we are not careful enough. He is roaming around us looking for ways to attack us especially in our relationship with God. He attacks us at our weakest point; when we are on trials and difficulties in life. This is why the Lord reminds us that it is easy to fall; it is easy to go astray.

To prevent this we need to be vigilant and prayerful. Maybe our daily routine has created a false sense of security to the point that we think everything is okay. Maybe our battle against temptations has become discouraging. Perhaps even the devil is trying to convince us to give up, saying that we probably won’t make. But no matter how many forces come against you, don’t give up the fight! Don’t let your heart grow drowsy (Luke 21:34). Keep on being watchful and vigilant and prayerful because the Lord is there to give us his grace.