November 30, 2025: Wake Up!

Wake Up!

Martin Niemöller was a Lutheran pastor in Germany during World War II; he was imprisoned in a concentration camp. He wrote, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

A theme repeated in the second reading and the gospel is “Wake up. Stop sleeping.”  

Refrain "Awake, O sleeper, arise from death, abandon the shadows of night; the wind of the spirit shall be your breath, and Christ will fill you with light."

“Wake up” is a metaphor, commanding us to pay attention. Stop ignoring facts. Let me give you some examples. When Charlie Kirk was killed earlier this year, I really hadn’t heard of him. And discovering more about him, there are some things that he said that I don’t agree with. And there are some things we said that I do agree with. But without doubt his death awakened many to return to church (especially young people). And he stressed building spiritual habits, promoted civic engagement over apathy, and living with a clear sense of moral conviction. He spoke openly about purpose, meaning, family, and responsibility. He addressed generational anxieties directly. 

Likewise, when George Floyd was killed back in 2020, I hadn’t ever heard of him. Yet his death awakened many to advocate for a stronger support for police training, body cameras, and clearer use-of-force standards. And also, to improve a focus on community–police relationships and the value of adding mental-health responders to certain calls.  

For many of us, one or both of those deaths changed things in us.  Verse 1: "Once you were darkness, once you were lost in the shadows. Once you were darkness, now you are children of light." 

Refrain "Awake, O sleeper, arise from death, abandon the shadows of night; the wind of the spirit shall be your breath, and Christ will fill you with light."

Christ fills us with light. And yet, many of us are still asleep to the urgent issues of our world. Mostly because we are like Nemollor in the quote I read . . . we feel it doesn’t affect us. Did you know that U.S. Catholic Bishops (who are generally a conservative bunch) recently issued a bold letter on immigration? They stated that each nation has a right to legislate immigration, but they are appalled by the recent inhumane treatment of immigrants. They call for a balanced reform that respects both human dignity and national security. Or did you hear that just a few weeks ago, Pope Leo XIV, in a message to the U.N. reminded us that God’s creation is “crying out” under climate change and urged swift, concrete action to protect vulnerable populations and our shared home? 

You see the issue is that people can’t see what they can’t see. We all have a full set of assumptions and limitations, prejudices and preferences, likes, dislikes and triggers, fears and conflicts of interest, blind spots and obsessions that keep us from seeing the world as it actually is. Fr. Richard Rohr teaches that "we do not see things as they are; we see things as we are.” Or as Deepak Chopra once wrote, “Beware of the mesmerizing bias of what you think you know.”  

Wake up! Don’t stay stuck in looking at ANY issue from just one perspective. Or think more locally, you know that kid who you can’t along with at school? Maybe they don’t get up each morning to think of ways to bug you, maybe they are just trying to survive also. And you don’t know their whole story. Maybe that relative who keeps bringing up politics at the Thanksgiving table does so, because he has never felt that you are listening to him?  

Christ is calling us to step into the light, to act, to love, to live fully as God’s people. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, are you part of the problem or part of the solution? 

Verse 2: “Live as God’s people, live as God’s justice and mercy, filled with compassion, filled with the power of love.  Refrain "Awake, O sleeper, arise from death, abandon the shadows of night; the wind of the spirit shall be your breath, and Christ will fill you with light."