At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: Be on the alert, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time will come (...). Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. Lest, when he comes suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you I say to all, be vigilant
To maintain this state of wakefulness it is necessary to struggle, because the tendency of every man is to live with his eyes fixed on the things of the earth. Especially in this time of Advent, let us not allow our hearts to be blinded by gluttony and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and thus lose sight of the supernatural dimension that all our actions should have. St. Paul compares this vigil over us to the guard that the well-armed soldier who does not allow himself to be taken by surprise . "This adversary, our enemy, wherever he can, seeks to harm us; and since he is not careless, let us not be careless ourselves.
We will be vigilant if we carefully guard personal prayer, which avoids lukewarmness and, with it, the death of the desires for holiness; we will be vigilant if we do not neglect the small mortifications, which keep us awake for the things of God. We will be vigilant by means of a delicate examination of conscience, which will make us see the points at which we are, almost without realizing it, separating ourselves from our path.
"Brothers," St. Bernard tells us, "to you, as to children, God reveals what he has hidden from the wise and learned: the true ways of salvation. Meditate on them with great attention. Deepen your understanding of the meaning of this Advent. And, above all, look at who is coming, where he is coming from and where he is coming to, for what purpose, when and where he is coming. Such curiosity is good. The universal Church would not celebrate this Advent with such devotion if it did not contain some great mystery "
Let us go out with a clean heart to receive the supreme King, for he is coming and will not delay, we read in the antiphons of the liturgy.
Holy Mary, our Hope, will help us to improve in this time of Advent. She awaits with great recollection the birth of her Son, who is the Messiah. All her thoughts are directed to Jesus, who will be born in Bethlehem. Together with her, it will be easy for us to dispose our souls so that the coming of the Lord will not find us scattered in other things, which have little or no importance before Jesus.
Hablar con Dios