Awake and Aware
Michiel Peeters - “Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.”
With this exhortation from St. Paul, we begin Advent. Advent is a time when we are invited to be vigilant, to stay awake, and to be aware.
We have mentioned this frequently: Christianity has only one disadvantage—it requires being conscious, being awake, being vigilant, and being aware.
But it is worth it. This is the first thing Advent proposes to us: be conscious, and you will see that it is worth it. You will not lose anything; on the contrary, you will gain everything. You will gain your true self; you will reclaim your life.
What is the first element of a human consciousness that is fully awake? It is the realization that we do not make ourselves. We do not give ourselves our own being in this moment. Therefore, before we can recognize ourselves, before we can accept ourselves, before we can “want” ourselves or “love” ourselves, we must realize that we are wanted; we are loved. We are wanted and loved by the Mystery that gives us being.
Before anything we do, before anything we can achieve, we are wanted, and we are loved by the Mystery; otherwise, we wouldn’t be here.
The second content of a vigilant, attentive human consciousness is the recognition that we are created with needs. We are waiting for something; we expect something. Perhaps unconsciously, every action we undertake is driven by the desire, the hope, and the intuition that something good awaits us—driven by a promise. We don’t simply decide to wait for something; rather, we can only recognize and accept that we are waiting for something.
The third element of a vigilant consciousness is an awareness that this hope—this desire—is normally contradicted by circumstances. Not least of which is the circumstance of our own lack of energy, our waste of time, our forgetfulness of good opportunities, our violence, and our impure way of looking at things—that is, an untrue, false, and impatient gaze. It is contradicted by our haste to identify what we really need with something small that we can control, but which cannot fulfill us.
How can we break out of this? We need a great deal, and yet we are unable to create it ourselves. Something new is required. It is not enough to have heard that we are wanted and loved—for example, to have felt this when we were children—only to assume that now, as adults, it is time to work, to forget, and to simply kill time. No! Our hearts still need fulfillment and happiness as much as ever, even more than before! “For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”
If I need something I cannot give myself, but someone else might be able and willing to give it, then I ask for it. That act of asking is the verification that I really need it—if I am not prepared to ask, then I do not truly want it. And since what we need is the fulfillment of our very selves—our destiny, the total realization of our life, which is not, thank God, in any human hands—our asking, our begging, is prayer.
God: let me desire my happiness. Show me the path to find it, and help me adhere to this road. Call me to You; attract me to You. Make me experience the expectation that defines my very being, and make me aware that my fulfillment is in Your hands. Make me ask for it, just as I did when I was a child asking my parents for the things I needed. Make me realistic; make me aware.
November 30, 2025 – 1st Sunday of Advent (Year A) – Rom 13:11–14 (Homily by Fr. Michiel Peeters, Tilburg University Chaplaincy)
