{"id":54030,"date":"2020-12-07T08:43:54","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T14:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=54030"},"modified":"2020-12-16T15:28:45","modified_gmt":"2020-12-16T21:28:45","slug":"watching-in-advent-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/07\/watching-in-advent-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Watching in Advent 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the liturgical year just begun, the First Sunday of Advent fell on 29 November 2020.\u00a0 The gospel reading for that day (in the New American Bible translation widely used in parishes in the United States) concludes with Jesus\u2019 admonition in Mark 13:37: \u201cWhat I say to you, I say to all: Watch!\u201d<\/p>\n

By my estimate, \u201cwatch\u201d in its various forms appears roughly 190 times in the Bible.\u00a0 I draw attention here to Mark 13 and to Psalm 130: 5-6.<\/p>\n

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,<\/p>\n

and in his word I hope;<\/p>\n

my soul waits for the Lord<\/p>\n

more than those who watch for the morning,<\/p>\n

more than those who watch for the morning.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The \u201cwatch\u201d of Mark 13:37 could closely be translated as \u201cbe on the alert.\u201d\u00a0 The \u201cwatch\u201d of Psalm 130 has as well the sense of longing and anticipation, perhaps of keeping vigil, a sense not at all absent from Mark 13.<\/p>\n

I have wondered about my \u201cwatching.\u201d\u00a0 Like many believers around the world, I have done a lot of \u201cwatching\u201d of livestreamed \/ televised Masses since March 2020.\u00a0 I wonder how much of my watching has been characterized by the sense of \u201cbeing on the alert\u201d for the voice and presence of God in the liturgical celebrations I have watched.\u00a0 How much have I allowed myself to be distracted by what surrounds me in my apartment?\u00a0 One stray glance at my carpet reminds me that it is time to vacuum again.\u00a0 My eyes dart to the printer next to my computer screen and I recall that I need to buy another ink cartridge.\u00a0 I am sure readers of this blog can identify other paths to being sidetracked.\u00a0 Am I less susceptible to distraction in a church?\u00a0 True, I do not see my carpet but I might hear the musical instrument that (still!) has not been tuned properly.\u00a0 How am I attending to the presence of God whenever and wherever I worship?\u00a0 How about when I am not engaged in formal worship?<\/p>\n

When I view liturgy online, am I doing so with a sense of keeping vigil until I can safely worship with others in the same place at the same time?\u00a0 Am I lulled into the convenience of \u201cgoing to Mass\u201d by walking from my kitchen to my living room?\u00a0 Is my longing for communal worship in person anesthetized?\u00a0 What about returning to Mass in person?\u00a0 Will I be lulled (back) into the routine of weekly worship and lose a sense of longing, a sense that my whole life of discipleship is a vigil spent waiting in hope for the return of the Lord\u2014and acting on that hope to pursue justice and peace?<\/p>\n

In the cycle of Sunday readings that follow the First Sunday of Advent, we do not see Jesus again until 25 December when the gospel will report his birth.\u00a0 We do not hear from Jesus again until 17 January 2021, more than a month after he advised all of us to \u201cwatch.\u201d\u00a0 When we do hear from Jesus again on 17 January, he invites his first would-be followers to \u201ccome and see\u201d where he is staying.\u00a0 Let us keep watch this Advent so we can respond to this invitation of the Lord in January but even more let us keep watch always and respond with readiness to love and serve God and neighbor whenever we can and should.\u00a0 If we simply wait until 17 January, we are missing the point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhat I say to you, I say to all: Watch!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":54031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3119,3409,3405,17,91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-plaza-new-ws","category-covid-after","category-theology","category-liturgical-spirituality","category-liturgical-year"],"yoast_head":"\nWatching in Advent 2020 - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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