SERMON : To be most free from danger be on guard even when safe

He is most free from danger, who, even when safe, is on his guard. These words, attributed to Publilius Syrus the Roman poet, are still valid in our present situation. More than ever before, due to man’s busy schedules, staying alert or being prepared is not only essential, but rather a battle that many people fight on a daily basis due to fear of failure. On one hand, this is due to our modern life style which is packed with too many multi-tasking working programs, characterized by little sleep. On the other, it may be due to our concern of safety. In any case, most people would like always to be alert, sober, prepared and feeling at their best when at work in order to avoid any uncalled for disappointments. Preparedness is an important quality in achieving goals and in avoiding any mitigating negative outcomes. It refers to the state of being ready for specific or unpredictable events or situations and it is a major phase of emergency management, which is particularly valued in areas of intense competition such as sport, academic performance and military science. Given the importance of being prepared for our tasks and the negative impact of not being prepared in the fulfilment of our daily duties, we should all adopt privately at least, the motto of the scouts as a guide for our order and efficiency in life: “Be Prepared”. In fact this has become a catchy word in many languages as we used to sing way back as a scout. The scout leader would tune in at the top of his voice: Every body likes our motto! Then we would simultaneously come in singing; the French say Toujours Prêt! Afghanistan Pashto Tayar Osay in Albanian Ji Gati and the Jesuit Fathers keep it in Latin estote parati. These words that many young people have sung perhaps uncommitted, later on become food for thoughts as they live that necessity of being prepared. Without any exaggeration, any body who cares to analyse the scout motto would agree with the fact that they have a good lesson to teach the world. In the third part of Robert Baden-Powell’s book Scouting for Boys, he explains the meaning of the phrase: You should Be prepared as a state of readiness both in mind and body in order to do well your daily duty. According to him, when one is prepared in mind, one is already disciplined and in position to put into reality what one has in mind. The preparedness of mind helps us to do the right thing in the right way and in the right time. Being prepared in body on the other hand makes one strong and active during one’s activity just because of one’s physical readiness. In his novel The Jungle Book Rudyard Kipling warns us that it is not simple to be always prepared. He does this by comparing our human situation to animals’ life in the jungles of India; where the law of the land is ‘eat or get eaten’. In such a situation a careless animal might wake up in the teeth of its predator. All must be fully awake without any excuse in order to survive. Being ever prepared has never been easy for man. For that reason, some nations celebrate the Preparedness Day to sensitize their nationals. And in July 22, 1916, while such a day was being celebrated in San Francisco, California, a suitcase bomb was detonated, killing ten and wounding forty people during the parade. Even while celebrating the Preparedness day, the celebrants had not prepared enough for the eventualities! As we begin a new liturgical year with the season of Advent, the Church brings us the same message: “be prepared”. Christians are called to be prepared for the birth of Jesus in their hearts. Indeed our entire lives, not just Advent, should be a preparation and waiting in hope for God. We must prepare for Jesus’ Second Coming and since we do not know when that will be, the Gospel asks us to be vigilant, other wise that moment would meet us unprepared: “Watch yourselves or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life…” (Luke 21:34) And St Paul tells us that to be most free from that danger of the last judgment, we must stay on our guard even if we think that we might be safe: “Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36) Needless to say, those words from Jesus and Paul lead us to ask ourselves whether we are safe with the way we spend our time. Perhaps we need to be more vigilant. In fact St Paul begs us to take the note seriously: “we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus to make more and more progress in the kind of life that you are meant to live: the life that God wants…” (1 Thes 4:1) Ends