Today is August 10, the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
We read at today’s Mass, “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” (Lk 12:39-40).
Happy Sunday, friends. Today, as we continue reflecting on the theme of thirst, I want to shift our focus slightly. So far, we’ve meditated on what it means to long for God. But what is it that hinders that longing? What is the great enemy of spiritual thirst?
One word: complacency.
It may not be a classic term from the tradition, but I think it names the spiritual condition that dulls our desire for God. Complacency is a kind of interior apathy — a voice that whispers, “I’ve done enough. I’m fine where I am.”
It shows up in small ways: We go through the motions of faith without engaging our hearts. We reduce religion to routine rather than relationship. Worst of all, we become blind to sin. We accept our weaknesses as permanent, make peace with our vices and stop striving for holiness.
But the Gospel today urges us to be watchful. The Lord is calling us to be spiritually awake — to be thirsty for his coming, to be ready.
Resisting complacency
So, how do we resist spiritual complacency? I want to offer three simple practices:
1. Begin each day with this prayer: “Lord, I need You.” Let that be the first movement of your heart. Just acknowledging your dependence on God can rekindle your thirst for him.
2. Reflect on the last things. We don’t have to wait for Lent or Advent to meditate on death, judgment, heaven and hell. These realities can sharpen our perspective and awaken us to what really matters.
3. Ask for holy desire. Simply pray, “Jesus, give me the grace to thirst for you.” Ask the Lord to stir your heart with longing for him. That’s a prayer he always loves to answer.
So today, let’s watch. Let us wait. Let us thirst for Christ’s coming — not just at the end of time, but today, in the quiet places of our hearts.
Let us pray,
Almighty ever-living God, whom, taught by the Holy Spirit, we dare to call our Father, bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters, that we may merit to enter into the inheritance which you have promised. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
