Alert And Awake

4 Dec

“God of hope, I look to you with an open heart and yearning spirit. During this Advent season, I will keep alert and awake, listening for your word and keeping to your precepts. My hope is in you.” ~ Matthew Kelly

One week already gone. Three more weeks to go. How was your first week of Advent? Did you stick to the things that you promised to do this season? Is your family finding time to pray together? Have you found an opportunity to volunteer somewhere? Have you reached out to someone in need, sick, or shut-in? Or, has one week finished with nothing being accomplished?

We look to the Lord with open hearts and yearning spirits. In order to keep those hearts open, though, we have to do something about it. We have to pray. We have to celebrate the sacraments (Eucharist and Reconciliation being two of the best). We have to minister to the needs of others. All of these things draw us out of ourselves so that we can become more like the people God calls us to be.

If we pray daily, celebrate the sacraments, perform the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and keep God’s commands, nothing will be able to stop us. The world will shudder at our approach and move out of our way because it will see the seriousness in our eyes and the conviction of our hearts.

Anything less than that and the world will do all that it can to confuse us, distract us, and point us in a direction other than that of the Kingdom. My friends, losing sight of the path that leads to the Kingdom is NOT an option.

FAITH ACTION: Review the spiritual highlights of your first week of Advent and determine what you must do this second week of Advent to prepare for the coming of the Lord.