The Pope: Come, Lord Jesus, wake us up from indifference and mediocrity

Renato Martinez – Vatican City

Come Lord Jesus, we need you. Come closer to us. You are the light: awaken us from the sleep of mediocrity, awaken us from the darkness of indifference. Come, Lord Jesus, make our distracted hearts vigilant: make us feel the desire to pray and the need to love ”, is the invocation of Pope Francis in his homily at the Holy Mass with the new Cardinals, celebrated at the Altar of the Chair of Saint Peter’s Basilica, this November 29, 1st Sunday of Advent.

In his homily, the Holy Father, commenting on the readings that the liturgy presents at the beginning of Advent, said that the Word of God suggests two key words: closeness and vigilance. “The closeness to God and our vigilance. While the prophet Isaiah says that God is close to us, Jesus in the Gospel invites us to watch, to wait for him ”.

Advent, the time to remember the closeness of God

Pope Francis, commenting on the first word, closeness, said that “Advent is the time to remember the closeness of God, who has come down to us”. Therefore, the first step of faith is to tell the Lord that we need him, we need his closeness. “It is also the first message of Advent and of the Liturgical Year, to recognize that God is near, and to say to him:“ Come near! ”He wants to come closer to us, but he offers himself, it does not impose itself. Advent reminds us that Jesus came to us and will return at the end of time, but we ask ourselves: what good are these arrivals if he does not come into our life today? Let’s invite him. Let us make our own Advent invocation: “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:20).

Let’s not run the risk of losing the essential

In this way, reminds the Holy Father, by invoking his proximity, we will exercise our vigilance. It is important to be vigilant, because a mistake in life is to lose yourself in a thousand things and not realize God. And quoting Saint Augustine, who says: “I’m afraid that Jesus will pass“(Sermons, 88,14,13), “I am afraid that Jesus will pass and I do not realize it”, the Pontiff warns us that, attracted by our interests and distracted by so much vanity, we run the risk of losing the essential. This is why today the Lord repeats “to all: be vigilant!”

Being vigilant does not mean getting carried away by discouragement

In this sense, Pope Francis urges us to be vigilant, this means that it is dark. Yes, now we do not live in the day, but in anticipation of the day, in the midst of darkness and work. The day will come when we will be with the Lord. It will come, let’s not be discouraged. The night will pass, the Lord will appear; He, who died on the cross for us, will judge us. To be vigilant is to expect this, it is not to let oneself be carried away by discouragement, it is to live in hope. Just as before our birth, those who loved us were waiting for us, now Love itself is waiting for us. And if they are waiting for us in Heaven, why live with earthly pretensions? Why worry about getting a little money, fame, success, all things fleeting? Why waste time complaining about the night when the light of day awaits us? Why look a little … (sponsors?) To get (get) a promotion and get up and promote us in the career? Anything goes. Look, says the Lord.

There is a dangerous dream: mediocrity

For this reason, the Pontiff invites us to stay awake, however, it is difficult. Sleep is natural at night. The disciples of Jesus, whom he had asked to watch “at twilight, at midnight, at the cock crow, at dawn” did not succeed. And precisely at that time, they weren’t vigilant. At sunset, at the Last Supper, they betrayed Jesus; at night they fell asleep; they have denied the rooster crowing; At dawn, they allowed him to be sentenced to death. But the same stupor can fall on us. There is a dangerous dream: the dream of mediocrity. It comes when we forget our first love and move on through inertia, only caring about having a quiet life. But without impulses of love for God, without waiting for his newness, we become mediocre, lukewarm, worldly. And that eats away at faith, for faith is the opposite of mediocrity: it is the ardent desire of God, it is the persevering courage to convert, it is the courage to love, it is always to move forward.

How to get out of the dream of mediocrity?

The Bishop of Rome affirms that we can wake up from the dream of mediocrity with the vigilance of prayer. “Praying is turning on a light at night. Prayer awakens us to the warmth of a horizontal life, raises our gaze upwards, brings us into harmony with the Lord. Prayer allows God to be close to us; that is why he frees us from loneliness and gives us hope ”. Prayer oxygenates life: just as we cannot live without breathing, neither can we be a Christian without praying. And there is a great need for Christians who watch over those who sleep, worshipers, intercessors who, day and night, bring before Jesus the light of the world, the darkness of history.

A second inner dream: indifference

The Holy Father warns that there is a second interior dream which is dangerous, it is the dream of indifference. “Whoever is indifferent sees everything the same, like at night, and doesn’t care who is nearby. When you turn only around yourself and your needs, indifferent to those of others, night falls on your heart. We quickly start to complain about everything, then we feel that we are the victim of others and in the end we make plots of everything ”. Today it seems that tonight has fallen on many, who only demand for themselves and are uninterested in others.

How to get out of this dream of indifference?

Pope Francis emphasizes that we can wake up from this second dream with the vigilance of charity. Charity is the beating heart of the Christian. Just as you cannot live without your heart, you cannot be a Christian without charity. Some people think that feeling compassion, helping, serving is something for losers; in reality it is the sure value, because it is already projected towards the future, towards the day of the Lord, where everything will pass and only love will remain. It is through works of mercy that we draw near to the Lord. We ask it of you today in the prayer of collection: “Rise up in your faithful. […] the desire to go out to meet Christ who is coming, accompanied by good works ”. Jesus comes and the way to meet him is indicated: these are works of charity.