Advent- Stay Awake and Be Alert
“Stay awake, stay alert” proclaimed Rev. Fr. Joe Stephens during his homily during the sunset mass on the 1st week of Advent. He said, the church sets aside this time of Advent-waiting and preparing, drawing closer to God.
Fr. Joe gave the analogy of flying- where the flight attendant always announces that “in the case of cabin pressure, please put on the oxygen mask first then assist your children”. They insist that you help yourself first before you can help others. He said this announcement is applicable to us in our spiritual growth too. We need to be spiritually fit and be able breathe that spirituality before we can nurture our children to do so. If we are weak in our faith, then it is a weak faith that we pass on to our kids.
Do we make Sunday mass as a priority or do other activities such as tuitions supersede the weekly obligation. Are we distracted with life that it has choked our faith?
Advent calls us to take time to stay awake, alert to our spiritual growth and reconcile with our Lord. Let us strengthen our faith so that we can help our children grow in their faith.