Today, we say goodbye to St. Luke as he fades, to create space for this year of St. Matthew. The key for a better understanding of Matthew’s Gospel can be found in the Lord’s Prayer and especially in the phrase, “on earth as it is in heaven”. In this prayer Jesus shares His inner world with His disciples, but disciples have to work to make that world their own. For while it is true that Jesus is well aware of and sensitive to every human need, He does not see this as a good starting point for prayer. Jesus begins with Heaven and encourages us to do the same. If we nurture heaven consciousness, we will return to earth with heavens agenda. God’s name will be forever in our hearts, we will be energised by His will and pursue His Kingdom. The prayer of Jesus enfolds us as heaven’s children moulding the earth into the world that God wants. We might say that the whole of Matthews Gospel is written to remind us of that we are blessed and sent to infuse the earth with the power of the Spirit.
Matthews Gospel speaks to those who are sleeping, blind, deaf, lost, dead, and overanxious about themselves and the affairs of the earth. The Spanish poet Antonio Machado said, ‘All His words were one word: “Wake Up!” Disciples are to be awake, seeing, hearing, living and found. With this growing awareness of the nearness of God and of love for all creation, especially our neighbour, disciples must act in the world. Shuttling between Sacred attention, understanding and action, of lessons learned and integration, teach us how to read the Gospel and drink from it as a well of spiritual wisdom.
On this first Day of the year and this first Sunday of Advent, there is a clear invitation to ‘stay awake’ in our everyday lives. When God is around things cannot be planned in a normal way. Preparing for the day of the Son of Man is about choosing to live in this deeper awareness. In the two examples given by Jesus this inner vigilance makes all the difference to people who look like they are doing the same thing. In this context, a literal approach is not helpful. In the literal view, a day will come when Jesus will return and those who have fallen asleep and who have not been faithful will be judged negatively. There will be no time for a last-minute revision! Those who are awash with this kind of enlightened self-interest cling to scrupulous observance. Even worse, the other take which says, ‘wake me up when He is getting nearer’, demolishes the real reason we should be faithful and attentive to His voice.
What if the ‘Day of the Lord’ or the ‘Coming of the Son of Man’ is really an invitation to enter into the fullness of our lives through Christ. God is eternally present and near to us. The Beloved Son calling us to the fullness of life. It is precisely our lack of awareness of this Sacred reality which needs to change. Each time God’s saving presence rises in human awareness, the Son of Man has arrived. It is a breakthrough that can and does happen at any time. When it does, and we receive it as Grace, we are dry in Noah’s Ark, taken into the Kingdom, and safe in our own house. What time is it? It is now and it is the moment to wake from sleep.
Once upon a time God and a man were walking down the street and the man says to God, ‘What is the world like?’ God says to the man, ‘I cannot talk when I am thirsty. If you could get me a drink of cool water, we could discuss what the world is like. There is a village nearby. Go and get me a drink’. The man goes into the village and knocks on the door of the first house. A beautiful woman answers the door. His jaw drops but he manages to say, ‘I need a glass of cold water’. The woman invites him in and invites him to stay for lunch. ‘I am hungry’ he says, looking over his shoulder. ‘And your offer is a great kindness’.
Thirty years go by. The man who wanted to know what the world was like, and the woman who welcomed him into her home have married and raised five children. He is a respected merchant and she is an honoured member of the town council.
One day, a terrible storm comes in off the coast and threatens their life. The merchant cries out, ‘Help me, God!’ And a voice from the middle of the storm says, ‘I’m still waiting for my cup of water”.
Matthews Gospel is written to show disciples how not to get lost. There is always too much to do and not enough time to do it. Our busy lives can rob us of passion, purpose and real pleasure. We wrongly treat Spirit as a luxury and our spirits wilt when we do. Our desire to enter into and hold onto the fullness of our lives needs to be supported by strategies which help us to stay focused. Simple choices like a morning offering, a grace before a meal or a night prayer can help us to stay awake to the eternal beauty in which we live. I pass a Christmas tree on my way to work. It reminds me of the connection between heaven and earth and that the ground on which I stand is Holy. Then I meet someone and, I notice that they are always more than they seem. My conversation with them is more respectful, patient and has more reverence. My heightened awareness of Spirt brings pleasure, passion and purpose to my day. I see a constancy to my love growing because I have been vigilant and watchful for how God is coming into the world today and how this day, like every day, belongs first to Him and comes to me as pure Gift
