November 27 - Frank Espinosa

Matthew 24: 37-44

To enter deeper into the meaning of the Advent season, we will be sending you Gospel reflections from our faculty and staff members. During regular school days, these reflections will be read during morning prayer. We encourage you to discuss these reflections with your sons. Today's Advent reflection is on Matthew 24: 37-44 from Mr. Frank Espinosa.

On this day, the first day of our season of Advent, we hear from the Gospel that Jesus calls us to “stay awake . . . you do not know on which day your Lord will come.” As I spent time reflecting on this Gospel message, I must admit, at my age, staying awake isn’t something I long to do. On the contrary, getting to bed by 10 am is a routine I long to keep each day. However, this Gospel message allowed me to reminisce about a time early in my career as an educator and my encounters with a dear friend.

In my first year of teaching, I was filled with such a confident spirit to be the best educator and to make a significant difference in the lives of my students. While in my first year, I met a colleague, and now longtime friend, Fr. Kyrin Caggiano, O. Carm., who greeted me every morning of each school day with, “You will see Jesus today, I hope you are ready!” Initially, I was grateful for Fr. Kyrin’s presence and support of a rookie teacher who needed many prayers for my journey in this new vocation. However, to hear this statement each morning, “You will see Jesus today, I hope you are ready!” began to make me wonder. Does Fr. Kyrin know something I do not know about my lifespan, or am I thinking too narrowly?

In today’s world, most of us are blessed beyond measure, both with people in our lives and with an excess of material items that help to sustain our physical lives. While we may feel completed by what we possess, unfortunately, our faith formation and spirituality call us to see and live beyond the material world. Too often, and due to our desire to hold close to things we can see and feel, our formation is something we do, rather than a way of life. While I was raised Catholic, it wasn’t until I met Fr. Kyrin that I realized that I may see Jesus in my daily encounters. He helped me to understand that Jesus lives among us, whether I see him in a friend, colleague, student, or the panhandler who awaits my arrival at the traffic light at I-695 and Frederick Road. Will I be able to place the things in my immediate life behind me to see Jesus’ presence in my life?

As you, your family, and friends turn your attention to preparations for Christmas, be sure to pause, resting in the beauty, love, and grace that surround you in the people and events that God sends to help you find your place in life's journey. Perhaps in striving for balance between active preparation for Christmas and contemplative longing for God to come more fully into your heart, freeing you from the distractions of a noisy world, you may experience anew the Season of Advent.

May we all be surrounded once again by God's gifts during the most wonderful of seasons and find our place at a table set with light, hope, peace, and joy that flow from the infant Jesus at rest in the manger. Therein, Jesus, the Christ, is revealed and always present to us.

Back