The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
Our neighbors have a big, healthy fig tree whose branches reach over the fence and into our driveway. Every once in a while, a fig will plop to the ground on our side of the fence and, when I happen upon it, I think of Jesus and his love for figs. It takes a very intentional and mindful way of living to notice things like when a fig tree branch becomes tender. I don’t know about you, but I am not so attuned to things like this – at least not naturally.
How do we cultivate this awareness, this attunement? How do we remain vigilant so that we can have “eyes to see and ears to hear” what the Lord is doing in our daily lives and in the world? Living every day with an eternity mindset requires us to become contemplatives-in-action, turning every moment into an opportunity for prayer and every encounter into a gift. We must remain rooted in prayer and committed to the life of discipleship, keeping our lamps lit for the return of our Lord.
Jesus in today’s Gospel gives us an image of what it means to remain vigilant and self-aware, for we know not the hour He will return. The vigilance he speaks of, however, is not one that is fearful or over-scrupulous. Being “spiritually alert” is not about being on edge or overly critical or quantifying sacrifices. We do not serve an overlord or a taskmaster. We serve a loving, merciful God, whose sole desire above all else is to bring us into everlasting communion with Him in heaven. Be not afraid; be not anxious!
Instead of allowing fear to set in when I think of the end times (as I so easily can), I think of how I want to live right now: with my feet on the ground and my heart in heaven. A holy fear is necessary and right, don’t get me wrong. But if we live for eternity, if we set our eyes on what is good, true, and beautiful, then we can remain at peace knowing that this world is not our forever home… That the Lord Himself is our inheritance. We can live as the Psalmist describes: our hearts glad and our souls rejoicing, trusting that if we remain close to the Lord, He will show us the path to life.
Laurie Medina is a recent participant in the Echo Graduate Service program through the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, where she received her M.A. in Theology. She recently moved to sunny Southern California from Texas to pursue licensure in Counseling, Marriage & Family Therapy. She loves spending time outside, having heart conversations over coffee, and finding beauty in the holy ordinary. You can find her on Instagram.