When we think about virtues, we don’t usually list watchfulness as one of them and yet, Jesus often counseled his followers to be watchful. He told the parable of the virgins who kept watch as they waited for the bridegroom and he referred to the master of the house, who knows not the day or the hour when the thief will break in. Jesus talked about reading the signs, about the importance of being prepared, and he asked his disciples to keep watch with him during his agony in the Garden. To be watchful requires vigilance. It means we are to be attentive to the here and now, even as we keep an eye toward the future. Life is filled…