First Week of Advent: "I AM AWAKE"

Stay Awake: Be constantly on the watch.

Yesterday, I pulled off an all-nighter blogging, tweeting and 9gagging. The internet’s improved accessibility is slowly dragging me into a kind of life I’ve always been desirous of—a life of prolificacy and limitless learning. Seeing my creative juices and its by-products flow seamlessly across the vast space of the information superhighway has never imparted me such degree of fulfillment. My problem on creative dormancy has never seen as much improvement as when I decided to make a blog. It is a renaissance in its own right.

It is not without its drawbacks, however. In those moments when ideas pop out and an overwhelming compulsion to write take me over, sleep would elude me, and my body would then be deprived of its rightful sleep. ‘Tis a prelude to a somnolent morning after.

Such was the case yesterday. It was already 5:30 in the morning and I still wasn’t done proofreading my previous post. I heard some steps on the staircase. It was my mom, roused from her beauty sleep. She was surprised to see me still wide-awake at the break of dawn.

“Why are you up so early?” she asked.

“I slept a while ago,” I lied.

“Well, you better started preparing now. You’ve got a recollection to go to at 8:00.”

Oh man was I trolled.

It was an advent recollection, organized by the Christian Formation office of the school to help us prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christmas. Advent, after all, is a time of waiting, and this week signals the start a four-week expectancy of Jesus Christ’s birth. Father Malillin of the Our Lady of Piat Parish, Cagayan, was our recollection master.

It was difficult to stay awake through the entire recollection. The talk became a discontinuous train of thought as I would doze off in another sleep session time and again. How ironic. Fr. Malillin was constantly talking about keeping watch in anticipation for the coming of the Lord. How could I keep watch when I’m in restful sleep?

In these times when unremitting vigilance is threatened by a number of distractions, how do we keep watch?

Fr. Malillin had an answer: PRAY.

It is when we are in constant communication with God that we are better able to commit ourselves towards the will of God, be it in doing our responsibilities as Christians, showing genuine faith, or preparing the path for the coming of Christ.

Sometimes, however, our commitment towards doing God’s will becomes seasonal. It is only when it is prescribed by the calendar of the Church for us “prepare the way for the Lord” that we introspect, call to mind all of our sins, repent, and do charitable acts. Well, is that right?

We become seasonal Catholics—or worse, Catholics only by name. During those times of the year that our calendars are marked “Ordinary Times”, we become “ordinary persons”, unmindful of our thoughts, words, and deeds. Like sure, we may attend a mass BID x 52 weeks/year (read: two times a day for 52 weeks or an entire year), but when we go back to our homes, do we exert effort to reach the quintessence of our Catholic being? Do we share the love that God is so abundantly pouring out to us by treating all persons with dignity and respect?

Put into mind that we must not only keep the spirit of Advent alive during the dates set by the liturgical calendar; rather,we must set fire to this spirit to keep it burning throughout the entire year. We must always be awake, because we may never know when Jesus will truly come again, and not just in the symbolic pretext of Christmas.

And as for my dozing off during the recollection, that was properly dealt with by Sr. Jesusa’s stern caveats. Yes, sister, I am awake!

And yes, Lord, I AM AWAKE!

Come, Lord Jesus!  Come and visit your people. 
We await your coming.  Come, O Lord.