Don't Fall Asleep At The Wheel

Jesus said to his disciples:

"Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy  

from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."

The human mind needs sleep.  Your brain will tell you when it has had enough.  You will lose your edge, you may daydream a bit and you just will not be alert.  

I had a job once working third shift, midnight to nine in the morning. Working third shift is not for sissies, I can tell you that.  During the day you are trying to sleep while the world works. Where I lived the noises of everyday life included gardeners with lawn mowers and leaf blowers doing their work almost every day of the week. This coupled with the sun which does not change its schedule for you does make sleeping a challenge.  If you were to have seen me during those nine months that I endured the torture, you would have seen a man who needed some real sleep.  Once. after my shift, I picked up my wife and we went to our favorite restaurant.  On the way there we encountered a stop light.  I stopped the car.  My brain which was in driving mode said, "Oh good, we've stopped."  I promptly fell asleep and my foot slipped off of the brake and we began to creep through the intersection.  I felt the motion and immediately awoke from my three-second slumber and re-applied the brake.  I was now awake, but only slightly alert.  We got to the restaurant safely and I had scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, and toast and four cups of coffee, black, to fortify myself to drive me and my wife back home. 

When we take on too much activity and do not get the rest we need we get drowsy.  It's nature's way of saying that something is wrong. Today Jesus tells us to not allow the cares of the world make us drowsy because we must stay alert and be ready the return of the Lord.   If we allow ourselves to fall into the traps that the world sets for us and we get all wrapped up in attaining temporal things, we will lose our focus on the kingdom of heaven and we will become drowsy when it comes to our salvation and will not ready for Jesus to return. 

This must be an important concept because Jesus returns to it several times in the Gospel accounts.  So, for this first week of advent let our watchwords be "Be sober and alert Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

Please remember to pray for your dear departed friends and relatives who may be at this very moment in Purgatory.  You can help them by prayer and sacrifice for them.  It takes about fifteen minutes to pray the rosary for them and you are going to Mass and communion anyway, can't you offer these things for their good?