Are You Ready?

“You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”  We will meet Jesus face to face in two ways, either through our own death or if Jesus returns right now, are your ready for either one?  My reflection will be not so much with the end of the world, the return of Christ, or the apocalypse, but rather how does one prepare.

Being a former basketball coach, many of you I am sure have either played a sport, may be even coached a sport, and even if you did not you still understand that the athlete must prepare well in order to be successful.  So what does a coach do?  A coach first makes sure that the players buy into the system, i.e. the philosophy, which is accomplished in the first few practices.  Next, the coaches must make sure that the players reach top physical performance and maintain that throughout the season, that is done by drills, drills, drills.  After that the coaches will put in place offensive and defensive schemes, plays, go over all kinds of scenarios and throughout the season will game prepare for each opponent.

It seems like a lot, but to be well prepared it has to be done.  At this point, game time, the coaches hope that all the pieces are working, that every player has done their part and worked hard, if not the team will suffer loss and even embarrassment.  We prepare not only for sports, but the actor prepares diligently and will practice, practice, practice, until they think they are the character they are playing so that when it’s time to act in front of the camera the finished product is magnificent.  The musician will do much of the same, as well as the manager of a company, the worker in the work force.  One must prepare to do anything well, be it sports, acting, music, work and even school my young friends, “A” grades are not given out for free.

So too goes for our Christian lives.  We must prepare well.  But again, how?  We prepare well by living the virtues, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, by attending mass and the reception of the sacraments, by living out the beatitudes and most of all the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love.

We can practice these virtues and ways of life throughout the entire day.  It begins as soon as we wake up and right before we go to bed.  St. Paul said, “Pray always.”  He meant that we are to always have a disposition towards Christ no matter what you are doing that way if it is time to leave this world even unexpectedly or if Jesus returned right here and right now then we would not caught off guard, but like a good sentinel Jesus would find us keeping watch at our post.  God bless you, Fr. John