Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 508


Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.




Some philosophers believe anxiety is the natural state of human nature. With a long memory of the past, handed from generation to generation, and aware that every decision is consequential we are caught between acting impulsively and not acting at all. 
We find more anxiety in knowing how little we know. Our best plans often come to naught because we could not see what was coming; although, in retrospect, it was obvious! 
Most Americans in 1860 did not think the Civil War would erupt after the death of a horse in Fort Sumter; few Europeans expected a universal catastrophe when an emperor's son was assassinated. In both cases the sleepwalkers woke up in the middle of a devastating war. 
By this time next year what will we think of what erupted in 2018? Will we wonder how we missed the obvious? The odds are good. It's enough to drive one to "carousing and drunkenness." 
Jesus urges us to, 

Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."

If we're anxious, exhausted by worry, jaded, besotted, drugged, we'll probably miss the Opportunity of his coming. It comes every morning. 

But this I will call to mind; therefore I will hope: The LORD’s acts of mercy are not exhausted, his compassion is not spent; They are renewed each morning—great is your faithfulness! The LORD is my portion, I tell myself, therefore I will hope in him. The LORD is good to those who trust in him, to the one that seeks him; It is good to hope in silence for the LORD’s deliverance. Lamentation 3:21ff