Stay awake

A Reflection for the Memorial of St. Andrew Dung-Lạc, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs

Find today’s readings here.

The exclamation point in the passage of Matthew’s Gospel used in today’s Alleluia startles me and makes me laugh.

“Stay awake!”

It is full of life. And so too are the rest of today’s readings.

In the first, the prophet Daniel, steadfast in his refusal of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar’s food and drink, is lively in his own quiet and captive way alongside his companions. The pair of his diet’s restrictions with his fantastical gift of interpreting dreams and visions reminds me of the fruits of prayer. What I have held closely and tenderly in the quiet spaces of my life, sustained by spiritual food and drink on retreat, has brought me some of the more brilliant treasures of my life.

Similarly, the language of Luke’s version of Jesus’ recognition of the poor widow’s offering makes a humble matter vibrant. The drama in the phrasing of Jesus’ statement, that she has “offered her whole livelihood,” serves a purpose for me beyond being a lesson in generosity. It charges the banal matter of dues and tithes with the reminder that the whole of our lives is in the church. It is in prayer; it is in God.

In the quiet moments of our lives, in the sleepy dark after a vigil Mass in wintertime or in the solitude of random evening prayer, we can remember that we are, in fact, living quite colorfully. 

Stay awake!

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