Have you ever stood, camera in hand, finger over the button, waiting and watching for the perfect moment to take a picture? Perhaps it was a sunrise or sunset over the ocean, your child’s first steps, a Hot Air Balloon Launch, or the first firework of the night….no matter what the event ….. you were prepared, waiting and watching. It was important to you and you didn’t want to miss it.
Our Gospel message today encourages us to do the same thing: to prepare, wait and watch …to watch for Christ’s coming. Not just His coming at our death, but His coming in our daily life. What does that mean and how can we do that?
Christ comes to us in unexpected ways and at unexpected times in the ordinary events and people we meet each day….but are we prepared to recognize and accept God?
• God is the love that we witness in acts of kindness.
• God is in the beauty of nature.
• God is in the pain we experience that opens us to receive the compassionate love of another.
• God is in the Scripture stories that reveal the all merciful and Generous God.
• God is the fellowship we share with family, friends and coworkers.
Yes, God is present in all things and everywhere…but perhaps we are closed to encountering Him. Perhaps we need to spend some time at each day asking for the grace to be aware of His presence. Some days it might be only a few minutes as we go from one responsibility to another, but other days we might be able to set aside a longer time to quiet our minds and ask for the gift of knowing how God is truly within and with us each moment. Prepare, wait and watch…be ready to open the ‘shutter of your mind and heart’ to encounter our Living God each moment. Have a blessed, peaceful, God-filled week!
See you at the Parish Picnic next Sunday after the 10:30 Mass!
Peg Orzel