Scripture Scribbles: November 27, 2022

the Gospel

Matthew 24:37-44

Jesus said to his disciples:
"As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In those days before the flood,
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.
So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be out in the field;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
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.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."

the devotion

It was just past three in the morning. I woke to my one-and-a-half year old daughter’s cry. As I comforted her in the darkness, exhausted and empty, grace interrupted my self-pity and I began to pray with today’s readings.

Stay awake, he says. I smile. I know now that he delights in creating moments like this for him and me, the Light of the World and the Exhausted Mother in the Night. He has sought me from the beginning in the hard, dark hours of motherhood. He loves those hours with me. In them I am at my emptiest. I have nothing left to muster. All of my self-sufficiency is spent.

In the deep night, he awakens me to himself. Stay awake! And I finally, freely offer him my whole honest heart and exhausted body. I don’t overthink or perform, as I might in the day. I don’t cling to my attachments. I have nothing in those hours except what he gives me.

I know he wants me to come to him authentic and empty-handed like that all the time so that he can surprise me with the overwhelming richness of his love. When I am authentic and empty-handed, he has room to fill me with the divine love he desires for me and for those in my home, family and community. So I pray:

Awaken me, Light of the World, to my absolute, desperate need of you. Awaken me, not just in the exhausted night but in the full day, too. Awaken me to you in the labor of the family, the grinding at the mill. Awaken me to you in those I serve. Awaken me to you in the sacraments and in the seasons. I want to be ready to find you in every person, time, place and labor, especially in those I least expect.

“Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed…”

Today’s devotion was written by Lucia Parker