Mark 13:32-37: The Need for Watchfulness
Monday, August 29, 2022
Today in our journey through the Gospel of Mark, we reflect on what it means to wait for the Lord.
Christians are recognized, collectively and individually, for their willingness to Witness, Watch and Wait. Will the master recognize us when he comes?
Our waiting is to be an active time of Witness, not a time for passive sitting and listening. It is a time for speaking when we are called to speak, being patient when we are called to patience, rebuking when we are called to rebuke, making amends when we see we have transgressed our covenant, pardoning and being pardoned, loving and being loved. It is a time of putting on the armor of God so that we might be able to stand firm, as St Paul tells us in Ephesians 6. It is a time for standing fast with loins girded for battle, clothed with righteousness and our feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. We must hold faith as a shield, wear the helmet of salvation, and take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
How are we clothed? What protection do we step behind or put on? What do we see as important for ourselves? How do we communicate this to the others? Will Jesus recognize us when he comes?
Watchfulness, for one who follows Christ is not optional, it is not quiet, it is not an inert state in which we sit idly waiting for Jesus. Indeed, as Jesus himself tells us, you do not know when the master of the house is coming.
Will he recognize us when he arrives?
Image from: http://parakaleomoms.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html
Adapted from a reflection written on August 6, 2008.
The Noontimes 
To enter into the conversation, leave a reply