Optional Memorial of Saint Louis of France

 Lectionary: 428

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
...So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

After September 11, 2001, federal and state governments developed warning systems with various degrees of alertness. Intelligence experts, both overt and covert, watch for apparent threats within the United States and abroad. They monitor social media for signal words and coded language that might indicate someone's planning a bombing, shooting, or other mayhem. They sometimes tap into suspicious conversations between shadowy persons. The enemy may be white racists in the United States or Taliban fighters in Iraq. They may be conspirators or solo madmen. 

When intelligence detects specific threats they might signal law enforcement to move in on the enemy, or they might urge the public to assume heightened awareness. They use five color-coded levels of terrorist threat: green = low; blue = guarded; yellow = elevated; orange = high; red = severe. 

Government offices and private businesses, alert for the warnings, should adjust their actions and attitudes according to the level of threat. Responding to the recent spate of shootings, citizens -- especially teachers and students -- are also taught to watch for certain signals of impending danger. The nation should never again be caught off guard by a Pearl Harbor, Nine-Eleven, or Sandy Hook. 

If our times are more troubled than many, there have always been threats and warnings, as we find in Jesus's words:

Be sure of this: 

if the master of the house

had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,

he would have stayed awake

and not let his house be broken into.

Our religion warns us that threats are not only military or social; they are also spiritual. 

Every human society harbors dangers in its traditions, customs, and values. Devout parents must often warn their children, "Just because your friends do this, doesn't mean you can! We are not that kind of people!" 

Alert pastors assume the role of prophets as they warn their congregations about current trends or ancient customs.

But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9)

(And alert parishioner sometimes urge their pastors to refrain from old expressions which have taken hilarious new meanings, like the word ejaculations.) 

Many scriptural passages have apocalyptic dimensions which some people read as signals that the end is near. Some get carried away with exaggerated expectations as they cash out bank accounts and sit on hilltops awaiting the Second Coming. There may have been a brief moment when even Saint Paul expected something like that. 

But after centuries of foolish prophecies and false alarms, we have learned to practice alertness against the real threats; that is, the apparently good ideas and popular movements that can lead only to trouble. We needn't fall prey to arms merchants or security specialists. Restocking the bomb shelters of the 1950's is ludicrous. 

Rather, we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and our hearts in prayer; we use our time well, knowing it will run out.