Reading: From the Gospel according to St. Mark 13: 28-37

Dear and Respected Brethren,

In today’s reading we listen the teachings of our Lord about the Eschatology. During the course of teaching our Lord desires that we all must give top priority for the under mentioned three points and insists us to care them well in our day to day lives. They are the following: 1) Heed 2) Watch 3) Pray.

Heed literally means take notice of or care for. In Psalms 119: 9 we read, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto thy word.” We all are supposed to give heed to the words of God Almighty. We are supposed to listen to God and we are obliged to wait for what He has to tell us. The prayer is meant to be a conversation with our Father in heaven. Usually our prayers turn to be one sided. We do not wait to hear what our Lord God has to tell us. Often we do submit our lists of needs and close the chapter of the Prayer. That is why our forefathers used to insist us to meditate after the canonical/ general prayers. And if we meditate, we could definitely hear the soft voice of our Lord God. We must train our minds to sort out all voices that fall into our ears and let us separate the voice that comes from our Creator. In Acts 3: 5 we find a young man who was lame from his mother’s womb, giving heed to Apostle Peter and Apostle John. HE had expected to get something for his personal needs or satisfaction. But his concentration was cent percent. When we might approach God, let us have minds of cent percent heed. Let us have the same type of concentration. The beggar was not sure whether he would get something from the Saints, where as we are quite sure that our Father in heaven, to whom we do give heed, is the provider of all our needs. He protects and cares us well and with this conviction we must give heed to Him. Let us listen to the exhortation stated in Hebrews 2:1: “Therefore we ought to give the earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip”.

Now we have to consider the term ‘Watch’. God tells us “be still and know that I am God” (Psalms 46:10.) For this reason only the Psalmist is exhorting us to pray: “set a watch before my mouth” (Psalms 141.3). It is a human tendency to speak as he or she likes. We must be careful in using words. Our words must add more glory to God and at the same time it should hurt others. Like Prophet Habakkuk we must also gain the courage to declare “I will stand upon my watch.” (Hab. 2:1) The term watch is used several times in the New Testament in the meaning of watching without sleep. A night watchers job is to safeguard the security of what is entrusted to him during the night, while all people go to sleep. We have to watch our own words, deeds and thoughts and make sure that they are filled with the love of God. Or they are instrumental to add more glory to God.

Prayer is often defined as conversation with our creator and protector, God Almighty. Usually we do give prominence for asking our needs only, which is a small part of real prayer. We must have a feeling of being in His presence and faith that we are in consultation and communication with our Lord God while being in prayer. Our prayers should not be one-sided. We must wait to give heed and see what He has to tell us. The Holy Spirit in us will enable us to distinguish the voice of our Lord God. Prayer should not be restricted to a few moments of a day. We must practice to recite the Jesus Prayer, (Kuriye-laison + Lord have mercy upon me) in addition to the canonical prayers of seven times of each day, from our inner heart. It must come spontaneous and from our heart. Our prayers must be good enough to get the divine answer ‘thy prayer is answered’ (St. Luke 1: 13). Lord Jesus taught only one prayer and the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer should not be mere ritual or a routine practice. Let us find time to meditate each word in this prayer, whenever we might recite it. Our Lord is to be accepted as our role model for the real use of prayer. Our Lord exhorts us to watch and pray in St. Matthew 26:41, St. Mark 14:38, St. Luke 22: 40. Actual prayer is essential for the remission of our sins. So let us pray with real repentance. St. Paul exhorts us in his first epistle to Thessalonians 5: 17, “Pray without ceasing.” Practicing Jesus prayer is a wise method to pray without ceasing. Our prayers must enable us to win over the satanic powers that are after us every moment. In our Lenten prayers it is said that one who is praying is in heaven. Prayers are wings that enable us to fly up to our Lord God’s presence. Let us pray for our enemies as well as for the entire creation and universe.

Ay God bless us all

Jose Kurian Puliyeril