The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
I am exhausted all the time. I’ve never woken up refreshed, no matter how many hours of sleep I get. I wake up and go back to sleep many times before I force myself out of bed, often with the promise of a nap later if I really need it.
The First Sunday of Advent shook me with a clear message that I wasn’t ready to hear: “It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep” (Romans 13). The Gospel echoed the same sentiment: “Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24). The beginning of Advent made me see the next Sunday different. In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul calls our Lord “the God of endurance and encouragement” (Romans 15). If you’ve ever felt exhaustion — the kind that infects both your mind and soul — you know that pushing on can be an act of endurance. Our God is here to encourage us and grant us strength to endure — and stay awake!
Today’s readings remind us that “the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5). We are called to imitate the farmers who wait for their crop — farmers do not just wait but are active; they work daily toward the growth of their crops. They work and care for the land, looking toward the coming of the fruit of their labors.
When the Son of God arrived, many anticipated the Savior coming down from the clouds and sitting in a throne. No one expected the Redeemer would be borne of a woman and placed in a manger among the livestock. But still the Lord was seen because the first Christians were awake and ready to receive the Son of God.
We must stay awake. Christ is coming, not only this Christmas, but again next Easter. Christ is coming for all of us in our daily prayer lives. Christ is coming again in the final judgment and our personal judgment. We cannot lie in bed, waiting for thunderclouds to wake us up, for the Savior has already arrived. We must arise from our slumber every day and prepare our hearts for the Lord. We must endure and be present, encouraged by the personal God who just wants us to make room in our hearts — first for a baby, then for the crucified Savior, and finally for the God-King.
Marissa Meyer is an active cantor within the Diocese of Nashville. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Ave Maria University and a Master of Music from Belmont University. The best part about graduate school was adopting her dog, Esther (like the queen). She has been #blessed to work for Every Sacred Sunday since January 2019.