“Stay awake”: But alert to what?

T

he key theme that runs through our Mass readings today is: “Stay awake” or “Be alert.” But alert to what?

 

1. Staying awake in light of the first Christians’ hope

To answer this, let us first look back at what the earliest Christians believed. The first generation of disciples were a suffering and persecuted Church. For them, the promise of Christ’s return was especially precious. This was the context of St Paul’s letters—such as 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:7 and 1 Corinthians 7:25–35—where the conviction was strong that the “last days” would come within their lifetime.

Paul’s first and second letters to the Thessalonians are in fact the earliest writings of the New Testament, written barely twenty years after the crucifixion of Jesus. But as time passed and Christ did not return as expected, the early Christians had to learn that human time and divine time are not the same. As today’s psalm reminds us: “For a thousand years in your eyes are merely a yesterday” (Ps 90:4).

So the first Christians began to see that Jesus’s call to be alert was not simply about calculating the exact moment of the end of the world. The timing maybe was unclear—but not the teaching. The message of Jesus to “stay awake” still speaks to us today, not as a warning about calendars, but as a way of living faithfully in the present.

2. Staying awake in the here and now

This brings us to a deeper question: what does Jesus mean when He tells us to stay awake?

In the Gospel, Jesus gives us two images: first, the command to be alert, and second, the parable of the faithful and prudent servant. Notice the detail we often miss. Jesus says: “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time?” (Mt 24:45).

Why food? Because the urgency of the Gospel is not only about the end of time but about the urgency of the present moment. God, the true Master, entrusts us with the daily task of providing what sustains life. Jesus is not indifferent to our bodily needs. In fact, He thinks and acts like the Good Shepherd who leads His flock to daily nourishment.

Let us be alert to what we truly need. Jesus calls us to pay attention to the small, ordinary details of our daily lives.

In the series The Chosen, we see a very human side of Jesus—hungry after a long journey, asking for water, in need of rest and shelter. These scenes remind us that even the Son of God chose to share our human condition so completely that He too relied on the care of others for food, lodging, and companionship. If Jesus needed these essentials, how much more must we recognize them as the simple but sacred gifts that sustain life.

But living in the present is not only about food. It is also about gratitude. Too often we look backward and long for the “old normal,” or look too far ahead and miss the grace of today. Staying awake means not overlooking the sacrifices of those who sustain us, and responding with small but loving actions. For our Jesuit novices, I often remind them: their two years of formation are not idle years but a mission in itself. They are to grow healthy and whole—physically, spiritually, emotionally, socially—so they may serve well in the future.

This is what it means to stay awake: to live the here and now with gratitude and care, trusting that even the most ordinary needs—food, shelter, rest—can become places where God’s grace is revealed.

3. Staying awake for the Bread of Life

Finally, Jesus’s concern for food in the parable also points to something beyond ordinary nourishment. He once said: “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’… your heavenly Father knows that you need them all” (Mt 6:31–32).

Yes, we need daily bread for survival. But there is another kind of food without which we cannot live: the Bread of Life, the very flesh of our Lord. Receiving this food each day makes us ready, whenever the Master comes. For the one who longs for this bread, every moment becomes charged with alertness and joy, because every moment is a hunger for God. That is why we sing in today’s psalm: “Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!” (Ps 90:14).

But too often, like the unfaithful servants, we prefer other food—what perishes, or drink that numbs us. Jesus warns us not to be idle or distracted. “Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property” (Mt 24:46–47).

So, brothers and sisters, the call to stay awake is not about predicting the end of the world. It is about living each day alert to the small details of love, faithful in what sustains life, and above all, nourished by Christ Himself—the Bread of Life. In this way, whether the Master comes today or tomorrow, He will find us ready. Amen. Fr JM Manzano SJ