C: 1st Sun of Advent (2 Dec 2018) - FIGHTING SLEEPLESSNESS - Lk 21:25-28, 34-36

“But stay awake at all times” (Lk 21:36).

This is the rendition of the English Standard Version, employing the verb “stay awake”. It is presented differently in other English versions: “be watchful” (New King James Version), “be alert” (New Revised Standard Version), “be vigilant” (New American Bible, rev. ed.), “watch” (Good News Translation), among others. Nevertheless, basically all of them imply the need for personal vigilance or deliberate alertness by being spiritually awake as expressed also in Mk 13:33 and Eph 6:18. This command necessitates that one fights the pestering inclination to sin, thus: “[W]atch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap” (Lk 21:34).

The Greek verb used in our text is “agrypneō” which rightfully means being “vigilant/alert”. Interestingly, a cognate is discernible from this term: “agrypnia” which is “the state of remaining awake because one is unable to go to sleep” or, in other words, “sleeplessness” (cf. BDAG). Take notice the famous soliloquy of St. Paul describing his sufferings for Christ: “in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night (‘agrypnia’), in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure” (2 Cor 11:27; see also 2 Cor 6:5). Appropriately, it is worthwhile to read the verb “agrypneō” along this line because it tells us two important points: staying awake can be a VIRTUE (resilience in fighting sleepiness), yet at the same time, it is also a CHARACTER (resistance in fighting structural situations that cause sleeplessness).

To illustrate, we observe that we can triumph against sleepiness in the morning with our own individual efforts of keeping our bodies active (e.g., taking a good dose of coffee, doing physical exercise, having a hot shower, etc.) and by carefully selecting our activities the night before (e.g., avoiding alcohol intake, not overstaying in front of the TV or computer, having a light but healthy dinner, etc.). However, these are not enough as there are structural conditions around us that can easily ruin our self-discipline in conquering morning sleepiness, such as noise pollution in our vicinity, poor room ventilation, and wanton merry-making of our neighbors during our sleeping hours. Hence, despite all our herculean efforts, our societal context can make it very difficult for us to achieve any sustainable success.

Similarly, when Jesus tells us to stay awake (“agrypneō”), he is not only asking us to overcome our personal weaknesses as he told his closest disciples in Gethsemane: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mt 26:41). But he is also challenging us to resist structures that perpetuate the prolonged societal condition of suffering as he exemplifies in his condemnation of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law: “They pile heavy burdens on people’s shoulders and won’t lift a finger to help (Mt 23:4)”.

The Advent season is often taught as a time of personal preparation for the coming of Jesus into our hearts. We normally engage in activities in better realizing it, e.g., Advent recollections, confessions and novena masses (“Simbang Gabi”). Doing them is indeed meritorious but is only one dimension of a genuine integral preparation for Christmas. Rather, we should also cleanse our societal structures in the same way as we cleanse our own selves. Certainly, we Christians should not be satisfied being persons of virtue alone; we must strive, too, to become persons of character as well.

- Rex Fortes, CM