Isaiah 2:1-5 / Romans 13:11-14 / Matthew 24:37-44
If we have to make a choice between health and wealth, what would we be more likely to choose?
Surely, we would be more likely to choose health, because as the saying goes, health is wealth, but not necessarily the other way round.
But as much as we desire health, it is also the one thing that we often take for granted and often neglect. Until when we lose it.
One obvious sign of how healthy we are is how we feel when we wake up in the morning. No doubt we may not be that aware or alert to take note of how we feel.
But that already in itself is a sign. If we need a couple of alarm clocks to wake us up, then obviously we are not having enough of rest, among other things. More critical would be when we sleep through a couple of alarm clocks and not even hear them at all. Then that is certainly a sign to tell us that we better go for a medical checkup.
Of course we can put it off, but ignoring the signs is a sure way of ending up in the wrong destination.
Let us take for example the warning signs before a stroke. It is put in an acronym F.A.S.T., and this what it means.
“F” stands for face drooping, as in one side of the face starts drooping. “A” stands for arm weakness – one arm will just drift downwards.
“S” stands for speech difficulty – the speech is slurred. And “T” stand for time – time to call the ambulance.
Since stroke can be the cause of death or disability, when the signs are there, then every second counts, so act FAST!!!
The 1st Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of a new Church year. It marks the beginning of a “new time” so to speak.
In the gospel, Jesus talks about a time gone by and also about a time to come.
He talked about the time in Noah’s day, the time before the Flood when people were eating and drinking, right up to the day when Noah went into the ark, and they suspected nothing, until it rained and rained for 40 days and 40 nights.
The people saw the sign of Noah building the ark. If words are to the ears what signs are to the eyes, then the people just ignored the sign until it was too late.
That was a sign of a time gone by. But Jesus also talked about a time to come.
He said that if a householder had known at what time the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house.
And the 2nd reading has this to say: You know “the time” has come; you must wake up now; our salvation is even nearer than it was before.
Yes, the time has come, the signs are there, the first candle of the Advent wreath is lit, the colour of the vestments has changed, Christmas decorations are coming up or have already gone up in the shopping centers.
We can ask for more signs and God will give us all the signs we want, but ultimately, we will see what we need to see when we are ready to see it.
The signs from God as signs of His blessings so that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.
The signs of God blessings are expressed in the teaching of Jesus in the Beatitudes when He said things like blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the peacemakers, etc.
On the other hand, the devil will also have his set of blemishes and these are the signs that we need to look out for so as not to fall into his trap. So let us take a look at the devil’s blemishes as opposed to the Beatitudes of Jesus.
If the devil were to write his Blemishes, they would probably go something like this:
• Blemished are those who are too tired, too busy, too distracted to spend an hour once a week with their fellow Christians in Church — they are my best workers.
• Blemished are those Christians who wait to be asked and expect to be thanked — I can use them.
• Blemished are the touchy, with a bit of luck they may stop going to church — they are my missionaries.
• Blemished are those who are very religious but get on everyone’s nerves — they are mine forever.
• Blemished are the troublemakers — they shall be called my children.
• Blemished are those who have no time to pray — they are easy prey for me.
• Blemished are the gossipers, for they are my secret agents.
• Blemished are those critical of church leadership — for they shall inherit a place with me, in my fate.
• Blemished are the complainers — I’m all ears for them.
• Blemished are you when you hear this and think it is about other people and not yourself — I’ve got you!
So we see the signs of blessings from God and we also see the signs of blemish that the devil wants to corrupt us.
The time has come for us to heed those signs and to decide what to do. Let us act FAST and act NOW, so that there will be No Opportunity Wasted.