Growing up, my brothers and I were latchkey kids. We would come home from school, and mom was still at work. Most days she would call before leaving work to ask us to do some chores around the house before she got home – clean up, do our homework, figure out what we wanted for supper. My brothers and I would always answer OK without thinking, and then happily go back to whatever we were doing before – usually video games or TV. Not surprisingly, we often forgot what she asked us to do, so later when we heard the car door slamand realized she was home, we knew we only had a matter of seconds to clean up the house. But mom always had this way of somehow knowing that we waited until the last minute.
As kids we looked for ways to cut corners, because chores and homework weren’t as fun as video games or TV. We spent more energy figuring out how to get out of our responsibilities than we would have if we only did them. And too often, when we did do them, we did them grudgingly or half-heartedly, more out of a sense of obligation or compulsion than service.
Fortunately, as adults wenever act this way! Or do we? We put off our chores until they absolutely need to be done. We wait until last minute to volunteer for something, hoping that “someone else” will step forward. But we don’t realize that, while we may still feel okay that “at least I did it”, it puts a lot of uncertainty and stress on others who may be depending on us to get those things done. It can damage trust in that relationship. Others want to know that what’s important to them is important to us as well, and if not, they want to know that at least we’ll do it out of love and respect for them.
There’s a comedy called “The Break-Up” about a couple going through some hard times. And one scene shows a fairly common scenario in many relationships. The woman comes home from work and asks her husband to do the dishes, but all he wants to do is relax and play video games. They start to fight about doing the dishes. And eventually, the argument heats up so much, the man gives in and says, “Okay, I’ll do the dishes.” The woman says, “I don’t want you to do the dishes. I want you to want to do the dishes.” The man says, “Why would I want to do dishes?” It’s a funny response, but not uncommon, is it? “Why would I want to do dishes? Why would I want to do extra work when I could put it off and relax instead?”
When others ask something of us, it’s because they’re entrusting that task to us. We’re committing not just to a task, but to a relationship. Out of love and respect for them, we say: “Yes, the dishes will be done because I know it’s important to you” or “Yes, I’ll do the laundry because I know you’ve been busy” or “Yes, I’ll step forward for that event because I know you can’t do it on your own”. This is part of living in relationship with others—whether spouses, or a family, friends, a community or a parish—we give of ourselves and help out because we value those relationships, not necessarily because we love doing dishes or doing a little extra work.
As we begin this Advent Season, we’re confronted with a similar challenge. Jesus asks us to recommit ourselves to our relationship with Him—kind of a “new year’s resolution” because this is, in fact, our Church’s New Year’s Day. No better resolution we can make than to resolve to do the task that Jesus has entrusted to us—to evangelize and share our faith with others, to care for those in need, to serve our neighbor, to grow in our faith through study and prayer, to avoid whatever leads us into sin and away from God. And we do that freely, not out of obligation or compulsion, but out of genuine love for Christ, telling Him, “What is important to You, Lord, is important to me.”
Today’s Gospel describes a man who goes on a journey and leaves tasks with his servants to be completed upon his return. This is what Our Lord has done for us, He’s given us a call in this life to complete. And yes, we could do it half-heartedly, scrambling at the last minute, trying to do good things and make up for years of neglecting the practice of our faith. But Our Lord is even better than my mom at realizing when we’ve waited till the last moment, when we’ve wasted so many precious moments that could have been used throughout our lives to serve Him. Why not be vigilant now? Why not be faithful to the tasks that He gives us today and every day? Now is the time, as we begin this new year with the Advent Season, to ask ourselves: “Have I taken the opportunity to share my faith with my family and friends? Have I been generous to those in need with my time, talents, and resources? Have I stepped forward to help long before the need became urgent? Have I worked on my faith every day through prayer, spiritual reading, frequent Confession, and the Mass?” We may think these things aren’t that urgent, but as Scripture says: “We know neither the day nor the hour of Our Lord’s return.” The need is more urgent than we think, to be faithful even in the little things, because the work of the Church is constant – the Church needs the gifts of all people to build Her up. We can do that now by being faithful to the tasks He has entrusted us with.
As we begin this Advent season, we have a chance to start new, to begin getting our life and our soul in order, every day showing ourselves trustworthy and being attentive to the tasks entrusted to us as Christians. Because the fact is, the Lord is coming – in a few weeks, He’ll come to us as a tiny child. And the time to get spiritually ready for Christmas is not simply a day or two before December 25. The time to get ready for Christmas is now. And in fact, as we learn, the time to get ready for eternity is now.