Are You Prepared for Christ?

You’ve probably heard the adage, “Success is 90% preparation and only 10% perspiration.” Another popular slogan is, “Success is when preparation meets opportunity.” If you’ve followed anyone who achieved success, you’ll notice much of their time was dedicated to constantly honing their craft as they lived deep in preparation mode to achieve greatness. Conversely, if one is lax in preparation and training, they’ll inevitably experience setbacks and frustration on the road to success. The Harvard Business Review mentions that the number one reason new products fail is a lack of preparation.

In short, preparation can either make or break you. Therefore, it behooves one to not casually dismiss the significance of preparation. The same concept applies in the spiritual realm. The impressive acts in the lives of the saints reveal that they are constantly engaged in spiritual exercises. They are not just longing about consumed in worldly pleasures. The saints were relentlessly doing acts to grow in holiness such as prayer, fasting, studying Scripture, teaching, and preaching.

In today’s Gospel (Luke 21:25-28, 34-36), Jesus warns of heavenly turbulences that signify that nations will be disturbed and conflicts will ensue. In this setting, inner man will experience turmoil in which his incorrect worldview will come crashing down as the Son of Man fully breaks into the world in all its disorder. This season in Advent communicates to us that Christ’s coming is imminent, thus what we are called to do is get ready for Him. His arrival on Christmas day embodies His arrival at the end of time – or His arrival to us at the end of our lives. Therefore, as we enter a new liturgical calendar year in the Church we are reminded that the first concept placed before us is to be prepared by diving more into spiritual exercises. If a prominent athlete knew the big game was in twetny-five days, you can bet he would eliminate pointless distractions and spend those days deep in training mode to get ready.

The great danger for Jesus’s disciples is that being consumed in the ruckus of our fast-paced lives, we get sidetracked in preparing for Christ and experience failure in temperance and fortitude. Failure of temperance shows up as Jesus warns instead of preparing one gives into “drunkenness,” that is, just seeking physical pleasures and comforts in this temporary life. Failure of fortitude is to succumb to stressing over “the anxieties of daily life” which, from the heavenly vantage point, are of little importance.

At this stage, Jesus warns that His spiritual reality will then catch us off guard which, in turn, will result in one's soul going through a panic frenzy much like the foolish virgins who didn't have oil for their lamps. Faced with this dilemma, Jesus cautions us to always be on guard with a sense of holy urgency.

Rather than being consumed with the usual secular message during this season, let us put Christ in the forefront of our minds. As Advent begins, if you find that you’ve gotten sidetracked and are not as prepared for Jesus as you’d like to be, make this Advent a time when you get your soul ready through prayer, spiritual exercises, reflection, and attentiveness to Him in the Mass. Let go of those meaningless messages that takes you away from being in prep mode. Where preparation abounds it will always stir one into a sense of mission. Then, on Christmas day, your preparation will be worth it.