Posted by The WORD in other words (2013) by Fr Eugene Docoy SVD – University of San Carlos, Cebu City
1st Sunday of Advent – A
One very early Saturday morning, I was driving past a prominent street in Cebu City and noticed it filled with young people, probably students, drinking and tipsy and engaged in boisterous merry-making. Beer gardens, pubs, music lounges, outdoor restaurants and KTV rooms spread over the area, visible from the main street. Dancing lights and blaring disco music seem to have dominated the atmosphere. I learned later on that the street has become a favorite destination for people, mostly young, to congregate and have fun over the weekend.
Time and again, we are being warned by the Gospel message to keep a good watch for we do not know the day or the hour when the second coming of our Lord would happen. But then, as in the days of Noah when people refused to enter the ark despite the warning of the coming flood, many people of today would not listen and even those who do would think the second coming as so remote that any immediate preparation would not be necessary. The necessity and the urgency to prepare do not sink into the inner spiritual psyche of many people.
Few individuals would realize how fragile life can be. Few would know that at a strike of a calamity, without warning, thousands and thousands of people, young and old alike, would perish. We have seen that in Yolanda and the preceding earthquakes in Bohol or Negros or another super typhoon Pablo (Bhopa) in Compostela Valley. We have seen that in airplane crashes, sea mishaps, and numerous road accidents everywhere. For all we know, the Lord’s second coming takes on different faces and forms and definitely in His own time.
The Lord’s warning to stay awake remains true today, not only to the people that troop to that particular street in Cebu but to everyone who has become complacent in their spiritual lives, to businessmen who are so engrossed with profit and to professionals who have become so focused on their feild responsibilities to the detriment of their spiritual duties.
Stay awake and stay focused on things above and avoid the unpleasant surprises in your lives!
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