Advent Reflection
Stay Awake! by Father Joseph Murphy, C.O.
“Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.” Matthew 24:42
“Stay Awake!”
This Sunday you will notice how the vestments of the priest will not be the glorious gold of Christ the King, nor the green of ordinary time, but rather be the subdued shades of purple in Advent. A soft violet like the color of the night sky just before the dawn. A hue that for those who wait in darkness is a color of excitement, expectation, and hope that the new day will break very soon.
In the four weeks of Advent, we join the prophets eagerly awaiting the promised gift of the Father: the Savior and Redeemer of the human race. We are told in the Gospel to stay awake! For we do not know the day nor the hour when the Son of Man will come. Sometimes small children will try to stay awake through the night before Christmas to catch a glimpse of Santa putting their gifts under the tree, and in their enthusiasm fall asleep in the couches near the evergreen shrub. When they awake on Christmas morning and run to see the mysterious gifts around the evergreen fern. When they catch sight, there would be no need to go and tell it on the Mountain, because they would have heard the shouts of joy already. By mid-morning the room is covered with shreds of ornate wrapping ripped off with an unrivaled zeal to get at what is hidden.
This season invites us to be like children waiting up for the gifts on Christmas eve. It invites us into waiting for God to act and to make His loving presence felt, to be childlike in our excitement for the fulfillment of the promise that God will draw close to us, comfort us, heal us, enlighten us, and save us by His presence among us. When He does come, no matter how quiet His presence may be, no matter how subtle the gift may be, let us receive it with the overwhelming joy of a child and receive it with the same zeal.
Welcome to Advent. Let us stay awake, for we are about to receive a gift greater than any other, the very Giver of every Gift Himself. Christmas is coming, so let us stay awake!
Written by Father Joseph Murphy, C.O.
Congregation of the Oratory
Director of the Office of Worship for The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington
