Preparing for the End

09-10-2017Weekly ReflectionFr. Brian Jazdzewski

Every now and again I field questions from people, typically from those who are aging, about suggestionsregarding preparing for the end of life. I’m sure countless volumes of books may be read which explain the bestmethods of making these preparations. I’m also confident, that at the core of any suggestions, is the reality tobe attentive to each person’s relationship with God and how that impacts their relationship with the peoplearound them. In other words, we do a really good part knowing the Gospel, but we also need to consider howwe do in integrating the Gospel message into our daily living.

In a vaguely connected way, The End has been central to people’s minds in recent years. Whether it’s geopoliticalmatters,signsinnature,scripturalreferences andthelike,peoplecansometimesbecomepreoccupied with The End. We might site escalating terror/war, astronomy or the Book of Revelation for example. With allof that in mind, some willevenpointto the100th Anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima this year and suggest thatGod is making a point to get our attention through some of these signs. The bottom line, whether we listen toMary or her Son, Jesus, is to always be ready because we do not know the day or the hour when Jesus willcome.

While some of these preparation matters may be rather internal, there is also an external element regarding howwe, as people of faith, might reflect our thoughts about dying with our loved ones. In order for our thoughtsabout the End and how they intersect with the “others” in our lives, we ought to become really familiar with ourpriorities. Those priorities are likely to be based upon the Ten Commandments; or perhaps to be simpler, basedupon the Two Great Commandments. We might consider spending some time reflecting on our personalpriorities with sensitivity to the commandments. Part of our reflection might be based upon what we might belacking. In another sense, we might reflect upon how we rely upon God to strengthen us in those areas orcommandments where we are weak.

While we pause long enough to discover where we are lacking in living the Gospel, we may discover that weare in great need of God’s mercy. His mercy is much greater than forgiveness. His mercy is understanding thatGod provides for everything we need in life. God’s mercy is what fills us in the areas where we are lacking. Our role is to acknowledge where we fall short and rely upon God to fill us. Our reliance upon God not onlypleases Him, our reliance also reminds us that we cannot do anything on our own. In truth, we cannot saveourselves when life is complete; we have to rely upon God for the promises of everlasting life.

The sense of The End has always been part of Christian living and its part of our lives, too. Somewhere deepwithin each one of us, we are aware of our impending death. God is the author of our beginning, and our endand so we continue to rely upon His power and presence until the end comes. Until then, we continue to deepenour faithfulness to Him and His commandments. We continue to open our hearts in order to be strengthenedwhere we are lacking. While we do these things, we understand our calling from our baptism to be messengersof the Gospel. The Gospel which reminds us to love Him and love others. Each day we continue to realize howdeep God’s love is and desire to move deeper into that love. Like Mary, we look to Jesus and continue to do allthings which lead people to Him in our thoughts, words and actions.

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