Watch: You Do Not Know When the Master of the House Will Come!

Why did the Church institute the liturgical season of Advent? Is it superfluous, or imperative, toward a fitting preparation for the coming celebration of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

First, one can intimate by the very fact that the Church has designated Advent a liturgical season, that it is indeed not superfluous, but vital to all Christians. That, all be afforded this period of time, to reflect upon the magnitude of the gift bestowed, when our Father in Heaven sent His only begotten Son to become incarnate in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

And, how should one use this time, in true recognition of the awe-inspiring mystery of our Savior’s Birth? The answer to this question, must begin with a genuine longing to be in the presence of Christ, a vigilance, that one be always prepared – to behold, not just the Lord’s Nativity, but also when He will return again in the second coming: “‘Watch therefore – for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning – lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch.’”[1]

St. John Paul II speaks of this reality in a homily on December 1, 1996:

“Watch”: this is the word that the Church proclaims insistently during this liturgical season. It is not only a joyful expectation of the night of the Nativity of the Lord, but the completion of all the work of redemption begun in Bethlehem. The proclamation of salvation is a mission entrusted to the Church and to men, aware that they have been redeemed at the price of Christ’s sacrifice and thus introduced into the eschatological dimension of the Kingdom of God.

Such an awareness should awaken in them a sense of special responsibility. This is precisely what the word “watch” means: watch because the Lord will come! Human life on this earth has its temporal end but also its eschatological beginning. The Second Vatican Council emphasizes this well in the Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, when it affirms that we are all called to prepare for the definitive fulfilment which Christ will bring about at the end of time (cf. n. 48).[2]

The proclamation of salvation, a mission entrusted to the Church, awakens in the hearts of all men and women, the truth that they have been redeemed at a price, the offering of Christ’s life on the Cross, that we might have life and have it abundantly. Which is another way of stating, that God loves us so much, that He did not spare His only Son. Instead, the Father sent the Word to become incarnate – that He lay down His life freely as a ransom, winning the victory over sin and death.

Thus, is it not fitting, that one devote due time to the praise and worship of Him who laid down His life that we might have life? Not merely, time spent on the preservation of our physical lives, which God indeed holds in being, but real concern shown for one’s spiritual life – the Eternal life – or that which is wholly beyond this life and God grants to those who have faith. Time, that takes into consideration the state of one’s soul and the Eternal consequences of sin: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[3] As opposed to the trifling pursuits that typically attract one’s attention: the state of the world, politics, television, movies, and the internet.

In fact, Christ Himself warns us to avoid wasting time pursuing these things:

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.[4]

Here one can see, that which is of true value easily outweighs the trivial. The season of Advent has been given, that one set aside frivolous pursuits, that one examine the state of one’s soul, and repent of that which has been separating him or her from God. To learn to trust in the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness, and to seek out the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And, once having received the grace of absolution, be empowered to behold the sinless Christ child with clear sight – entering into His presence with awe in the mystery of redemption. To comprehend with sincerity, the predicament of all mankind (human beings subject to sin), men and women who have no further recourse than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Who offered His life as a ransom – His life in place of ours, that He save us from our sins.

St. Maximus the Confessor, the First Bishop of Turin, emphasizes the overwhelming importance of spending time on cleanliness of soul, over and above the time one must spend on cleanliness of body and clothing:

2. Therefore, brethren, let us who are about to celebrate the Lord’s birthday adorn ourselves in pure and shining garments. I speak, however, of the soul’s garments and not of those for the flesh. For the garment intended for the flesh is a mean piece of clothing, but the soul’s vesture is a precious object; the one has been put together by human hands, the other has been formed by the hands of God. And therefore more care is required to preserve the work of God without stain than to keep human works unsullied. For if worldly clothing gets dirty a hired launderer can wash it out, but if the soul’s garb gets soiled it can hardly be cleaned except by special and unremitting works. The hand of a skilled worker is of no avail, neither is a launderer’s toil, for water can wash the polluted parts of one’s conscience but it cannot clean them. These are the soul’s precious garments, which the Evangelist Mark praises in the Savior when he says: And His clothes became shining, exceedingly white like snow, such as no launderer on earth could make them (Mar 9:3). Christ’s raiment is praised, then, because it shone not on account of its texture but on account of grace. His raiment is praised not because it was put together with fine weaving but because it was conceived in bodily integrity. His garment is praised not because women’s hands wove it but because Mary’s virginity begot it. And therefore the grace of brilliance is magnified in Him, for it was not the care of a skilled worker that made it stainless. Such as no launderer on earth, he says, could make them. Obviously, a launderer is unable to do such with Christ’s clothing, for a launderer can produce brightness, cleanness, and purity, but he cannot produce virginity, righteousness, or goodness: the one is a question of skilled work, the other is in the realm of virtue. The holy Evangelist praises these garments of virtue in the Lord Christ, which blessed David also preached in a similar way when he said: myrrh and aloes and cassia from your precious garments (Psa 45.8). By these odors of holy aromas the garments of virtue are signified.
3. Therefore, brethren, let us who are about to celebrate the Lord’s birthday cleanse our conscience from all filth. Let us array ourselves not in silken vesture but in precious works. For shining garments can cover limbs but they cannot adorn the conscience, and in fact it is all the more shameful to go about with handsome limbs while the senses within are foul. Let us first, therefore, adorn the disposition of the interior person so that the clothing of the exterior person may be adorned as well. Let us wash away spiritual stains so that our fleshly robes might shine on us.[5]

Thus, possessing the truth of these words in the depths of our hearts and souls, let us ponder deeply these words of St. John Chrysostom:

O ineffable grace! The Only Begotten, Who is before all ages, Who cannot be touched or be perceived, Who is simple, without body, has now put on my body, that is visible and liable to corruption. For what reason? That coming amongst us He may teach us, and teaching, lead us by the hand to the things that men cannot see. For since men believe that the eyes are more trustworthy than the ears, they doubt of that which they do not see, and so He has deigned to show Himself in bodily presence, that He may remove all doubt.

…What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of days has become an infant. He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, without complexity, and incorporeal, now lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infants’ bands. But He has decreed that ignominy shall become honor, infamy be clothed with glory, and total humiliation the measure of His Goodness. For this He assumed my body, that I may become capable of His Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His Spirit; and so He bestowing and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life. He takes my flesh, to sanctify me; He gives me His Spirit, that He may save me.[6]

[1] Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain). The Holy Bible : Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Translated from the Original Tongues, Being the Version Set Forth A.D. 1611, Old and New Testaments Revised A.D. 1881-1885 and A.D. 1901 (Apocrypha Revised A.D. 1894), Compared with the Most Ancient Authorities and Revised A.D. 1952 (Apocrypha Revised A.D. 1957). Catholic ed. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994., Mar 13:35-37., (Hereafter cited as RSV).

[2] Pope John Paul II. Homily. P 5. 1 December 1996. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/it/homilies/1996/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19961201_parish-san-girolamo.html

[3] RSV, Rom 6:23.

[4] RSV, Mat 6:25-33.

[5] Maximus, and Boniface Ramsey. 1989. The Sermons of St. Maximus of Turin. New York, N.Y.: Newman Press., pg. 150-152., para. 2-3.

[6] Catholicism.org, “Saint John Chrystostom’s Christmas Morning Sermon,” para. 10 and 13, accessed December 13, 2024, https://catholicism.org/chrysostom-christmas.html