Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Stay Woke

FIND THEM PREPARED

God, wake us up. In a world that dulls and distracts, help us stay alert to what matters. Open our eyes to the needs around us and soften our hearts to your call. Make us ready—not anxious, but willing—to respond with love, presence, and purpose. Keep our lamps lit and our spirits awake. Amen.

Can you share a time when you were really awake to someone else’s need—when you noticed something others missed and felt called to act? What moved you, and what happened?

Guatemalan migrants deported from the U.S. arrive at La Aurora Air Base in Guatemala City on January 27, 2025. (OSV, Cristina Chiquin, Reuters/Guatemala)

At Casa del Migrante in Guatemala City, a Catholic shelter run by Scalabrini missionaries, the Gospel comes to life in the form of hot meals, legal aid, and quiet prayer before a statue of Mary. Migrants like María, a 50-year-old woman from Venezuela, arrive after harrowing journeys—fleeing violence, political persecution, or economic collapse—only to find the U.S. border sealed shut, and their futures uncertain. Many have lived for years in the United States before being deported. Now in limbo, they turn to places like Casa del Migrante not just for shelter, but for dignity, solidarity, and the fragile hope of being seen. Here, the weary find not only clean clothes and food, but spiritual accompaniment in the form of reflection sessions, legal counsel, and the compassionate presence of mission partners like Deacon Leonel Yoque and Maryknoll immersion participants. Immersion trips to encounter and listen to the stories of people impacted by migration open hearts and transform participants into active missionary disciples, fostering solidarity and a deeper call to serve. Relationships are built that embody a faith that stays awake, attentive to cries for justice, and ready to respond with love, presence, and hope in the midst of hardship.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have the servants recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Luke 12:35-40

Jesus is calling us to stay woke. Life is full of moments that demand our attention: someone in crisis, a cry for justice, a friend who needs more than a quick reply. The Gospel isn’t about living in fear, it’s about living fully awake—ready to act, ready to care, ready to love when love is most needed. For missionary disciples, this means not sleepwalking through life or numbing ourselves when things get hard. It means paying attention to the Spirit’s quiet nudges and the world’s loud cries. Grace shows up in the middle of the mess, through people, problems, and opportunities we didn’t plan for. And when we stay woke to it, Jesus meets us there—not to judge, but to serve us, renew us, and send us back out with fire in our bones and love in our hands.

How is the Spirit inviting you to take a hard look at the places where you or your community are just going through the motions in life or faith, and instead to wake up to the needs of others around you?

Perhaps the Spirit will invite you to consider joining a Maryknoll immersion trip to places like Guatemala or the El Paso border to encounter and listen to the struggles and hopes of migrants and other people on the margins. Immersion trips turn bystanders into engaged missionary disciples, ready to share Christ’s love with courage and heart.

Thank you, God, for stirring us. As we go, keep us awake to your Spirit and alert to the moments that matter. Let us carry light into dark places, show up when love calls, and live like people who are fully alive. Send us with courage, compassion, and open hands. Amen.