Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 21:34-36
Watch and Pray

As the liturgical year draws to its close, Jesus leaves us with two final words that are as urgent today as they were two thousand years ago: “Be on your guard… and pray at all times.”

We often imagine vigilance as an anxious watching, like waiting for a storm to pass. But the vigilance Jesus speaks of is quite different — it is the attentive, loving awareness of a heart that remains awake to God’s presence. It means not allowing our hearts to become “coarsened,” dulled by distractions, pleasure, or worries.

How easily this happens! We live in an age overflowing with noise — endless information, news, and entertainment. We scroll, we react, we rush — and little by little, our spiritual sensitivity dulls. We stop seeing the suffering around us, stop noticing the quiet movements of grace. On the other hand, too much exposure to the pain of the world can also paralyse us with fear or fatigue. Jesus invites us to find a sacred balance — to re main aware, but not overwhelmed; engaged, but not enslaved.

And the key to this balance, He tells us, is prayer. “Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen.” Prayer keeps the heart soft and alive. It roots us again and again in God’s peace. It restores our clarity and gives us courage to “stand before the Son of Man” — that is, to face life honestly, faithfully, and without fear.

At the close of this year, perhaps Jesus is gently asking us: “Where is your heart? What fills it?” His call to “watch and pray” is not a threat of doom, but an invitation to live awake — to love deeply, to serve attentively, and to stand ready, not with dread but with trust.

For the one who watches with love and prays with perseverance will never be caught unprepared. The Lord comes quietly each day — may He always find us awake, praying, and at peace.

© Claretian Publications, Hong Kong, China
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica 2025