Ready or Not, Here He Comes

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The Savior is coming!  The Savior is coming!
You Also Must Be Prepared [Mt 24]
While sitting in my car recently, waiting for my son, a song (from earlier this year) came on the radio that I never heard of before… A song that very unexpectedly led me into thinking about THE coming.  It was just a few days before Advent at the time, when Catholics are especially reminded of the “last things”, nearing the threshold of our season of hope & preparation.

The song, however, is actually about the ruin of Pompeii, the ancient Roman city near modern-day Naples, as it was suddenly buried under the volcanic ash of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.  Apparently, the songwriter was inspired by the people of Pompeii; that is, in how their remains were forever preserved in their positions, at that exact moment in time... “caught up and lost in… vices.” 

It made me wonder… Will I (we), too, be caught, off-guard & unprepared for last things; for judgment?  …Which led me to also consider how often I feel unprepared even for Christmas morning (!!), staying awake long after midnight on Christmas Eve, trying to meet my morning deadline; and hoping to make everything right, in my own strength, within the small amount of time left.   Somehow I don’t think this is what our Lord means by "stay awake"!

Something to think about:  How might an ongoing "position" of unpreparedness [and the stress it creates] affect our health & wellness in this life, and also in the next; for body & soul?
Plus, isn’t it interesting how Advent used to be considered a time of penitential preparation as well, including acts of fasting & abstinence, similar to Lent.  But still, even now, we're called to prepare, as we go rejoicing, with great wonder & hope!

And yet: "In [those] days… they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage… So will it be [also] at the coming of the Son of Man… THEREFORE, STAY AWAKE!  For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.  Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”  [Matthew 24: 38-44; Source: usccb.org/bible/matthew/24]

So, truly, it is my desire to be better prepared… for everything this season represents and has to offer; in the things that matter and last. 
And I pray we won't be caught un-ready, lost in our vices, as the song I heard that day was saying about Pompeii!  [“Pompeii” by Bastille]: “…Oh where do we begin? The rubble or our sins?...”  [Song may be viewed on YouTube at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viwJ936D3mc ] 

Let us be caught, then, ready and well… O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!! --EF
An Act of Contrition:
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee,
and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven, and the pains of hell;
but most of all because they offend Thee, my God,
Who are all good and deserving of all my love.  
I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance,
and to amend my life.  Amen.

PS: And speaking of getting ready, aren’t prayer books a wonderful help?! Two books on my shelf here [that I have used in recent years in attempt to better prepare both mind & heart] with daily reflections for this time of year are:
Advent and Christmas with Fulton J. Sheen (edited & compiled by Judy Bauer); and
Behold, He Comes – Meditations on the Incarnation (by Fr. Benedict Groeschel).
God Bless! EF 12/8/2013
http://thewaytonourishforlife.wordpress.com


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