I pray for the Grace to be among those who see the value of my Eternal life and spend my Earthly life preparing for it…
The end of the last year is behind us. And I have been thinking about those last few weeks of the last calendar year quite a lot over the last few days.
You see, as the end of the year approached, I found myself confronted by a number of people…
Some people started to work harder and longer hours and try their best to keep up with everything that was coming through. Those are the people who push through until the very end.
But then there were other people, who began the slow wind down the the Christmas holidays at some point in November. Those people started to become less and less efficient over time until they got themselves to a point where they were unable to keep going and became completely unproductive.
And what this really meant was that there were two approaches to the work that led to the holiday season. And this reminded me of the different ways that we can approach Eternal Salvation…
After all, the Christmas Holidays are a wonderful time for many people to work less and relax more and enjoy their families. And in many ways this is similar to eternity in Heaven. In Heaven we have the opportunity to enjoy our time in the Beatific Vision of the Blessed Lord and the only thing we need to do is to adore Him. And as we prepare for that Perfection – for the vision in eternity that will consume our soul with the true essence of PERFECT LOVE, there are different ways that we can approach it.
Some people, as they contemplate death, consider all the different things they need to do to prepare for it. Saint Maria Faustina once wrote of a story in her Diary, where she was speaking with an elderly nun who was close to death. She asked the nun whether she was worried about her impending death. The nun replied that she was not worried at all because she had spent her Earthly life preparing for her death and therefore had nothing to be afraid of. This elderly nun – like the Saints – was like the people who work extra hard in the lead up to Christmas because they are trying to get everything in order before they enjoy the break.
But then there are others… And they are the people who start to slow down. These are the people who know that death is imminent (because it is the ONLY certain thing in this world) and still they insist on ignoring it. Still, they insist on acting as though eternal life is not the ONLY important life. Instead they act as though eternal life is something that could be switched on or off and they live their earthly lives oblivious to the merits they could be earning in this life.
And I have been thinking about all these things today, as I pray for the Grace to be among those who see the value of my Eternal life and spend my Earthly life preparing for it…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.