St. Aidan's Anglican Church, Kansas City - Weekly Talks

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples to be vigilant. It sets the tone for today, the first Sunday of Advent, the great liturgical season of vigilance, of waiting and watching in Word and Prayer. Vigilance describes the action or state of keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties. It comes from the word vigil, a period of keeping awake during the time usually spent asleep, especially to keep watch or pray, such as the Great Vigil of Easter. The eve, the evening before a feast day, is called a vigil, such as Christmas Eve. The secular calendar considers Christmas Eve as merely the day before Christmas whereas the liturgical calendar considers it a vigil, a call to keep awake throughout the night, in worship and prayer. To be vigilant is a posture of alertness, to be awake when others may, culturally or spiritually speaking, are asleep (let the hearer understand). The season of Advent calls us to wake up from any area of our lives given over to deadening practices and attitudes, as to