Don't Miss the Boat

 

Learning to count our blessings and not stresses

11/30/2025

Matthew 24:37-44 Jesus said to his disciples: "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have  stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."

My friends, we have officially embarked on a season that is both extremely busy but also extremely blessed. But which do you feel more? I love that old saying: “Too blessed to be stressed!” But Advent can feel exactly the opposite: “Too stressed to be blessed!” For example, we can be so stressed with hanging Christmas lights that we forget how blessed we are that Jesus is the Light of the world.

In Advent we should feel blessed waiting for the coming of Christ, the God-made-Man, who rules the world. But instead many today are stressed waiting for the coming of A.I., the “machine-made man”, who will take over the world. When I ask small children who was born on December 25, more say Santa Claus than Jesus Christ.

Children feel stressed worrying about how Saint Nick squeezes down the chimney than feeling blessed about God squeezing into a Baby born in a manger. In other words, as we begin Advent, we have to ask ourselves: “Am I too blessed to be stressed?” or rather “Too stressed to be blessed”?

In the gospel today, Jesus warns his disciples not to let stress of daily activities overshadow the blessing of being saved. He gives them this example: “In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark.”

In other words, people were going about their daily business, and feeling so stressed about eating and marrying - weddings are definitely stressful! - and completely missed Noah constructing a huge ark in which they might be saved. Noah’s contemporaries were not just too stressed to be blessed, they were too stressed to be saved.

Let me suggest three strategies to help us feel too blessed to be stressed and not miss the blessing of salvation. First, find some way to reach out and help the poor, the immigrant, the unborn, and our foster children. Recently, some caring parishioners introduced me to the Arkansas Family Alliance.

They provide basic needs to children and families before they become homeless or dependent on the system. They explained that one of the biggest ways to help children is by providing good bedding, so they can sleep well. I had never thought how much sleep reduces stress and so I made a donation.

And by the way, authentic Catholic social teaching sees helping all these categories of people as a seamless ethical continuum of Christian love. Why? Because we are helping Jesus in every case, no questions asked. When we reach out to foster children, the homeless, the immigrants, and the unborn, our stress becomes less because we discover how blessed we are by contrast.

A second strategy to feel more blessed than stressed is develop spiritual practices during Advent. Sure you can go to parties and Friendsgivings, and and dress your dog up in a Santa suit like I did with Apollo last year. But also get an Advent wreath and sit down as a family for supper every Sunday of Advent, light a new candle and pray for the coming of Christ at Christmas and at the end of time.

This year we are pleased to present the second annual Classical Christmas Concert here at I.C. with brilliant musicians to lift our hearts up to heaven, and bring heaven down to earth. You’ve heard the old adage: “Music calms the savage beast.” Well, listening to our school Treble Makers choir and professional trombones, trumpets, and tenors will calm your savage soul so you feel too blessed to be stressed.

A third strategy is to make a sincere confession and prepare your soul for the coming of your Savior. Think about it: nothing causes more stress than sin, the loss of our friendship with God. And therefore, there is no bigger blessing than being reconciled with Jesus and being restored to his friendship.

That’s why every Advent all the local parishes schedule reconciliations services. All the deanery priests go to each parish to hear confessions. And they will come here to I.C. on Thursday, December 11 at 6 p.m. I promise you that if you make a good confession, you will feel too blessed to be stressed.

Folks, if you don't want to be so stressed that you miss the blessing of salvation, then do three things this Advent: (1) help the poor (all of them, not just the ones you like, because Jesus is in all of them), (2) get an Advent wreath and come to our Christmas concert, and (3) go to confession. And if you do these three things, then you will not miss the boat of salvation like the people did in Noah’s day.

Praised be Jesus Christ!