At the End of Life
by Father Paul Campbell, LC
Make a small sacrifice at each of your meals today for the souls in purgatory.
December 1, 2007
Saturday of the Thirty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 21: 34-36
Jesus said to his disciples: "Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."
Introductory Prayer: Lord, thank you for this time to be with you. I want a stronger faith so that I can see you more clearly in my life. I desire a more vibrant hope so that I won’t get discouraged and stop fighting for sanctity. I yearn for a deeper love so that I can better correspond to your love in my life.
Petition: Lord, help me to ground my life on reality and not the illusions of the world and the false attraction of sin.
1. He Will Come to Judge the Living and the Dead At the end of our lives we will stand before the Son of Man. We will be judged on how we have loved. Have we loved ourselves and disregarded God, or have we loved God and disregarded ourselves? After death, comes judgment. This is reality. If I want to base my life on reality, I have to face this truth and live the present moment with an eye to eternity.
2. Drowsy Hearts Jesus warns us about living for pleasure. We can drown our conscience in carousing and drinking. The goal of life then becomes what thrills the senses — the new, the exciting. We seek what is pleasing to our eyes and our comfort. We become trapped by entertainment. We get caught up in the material world and forget the reality of God and his judgment. We need to practice self-denial, to train ourselves to seek God and him alone.
3. Anxieties of Life There is also the problem of the living life too seriously. We get caught up in the activities of this world and have no thought for God and the world to come. We worry about every little detail. All the weight falls on our shoulders. Worries blind us to God’s action in our lives. We focus on ourselves and the limitations we face, and we forget God and his power and his love. We need to remember the better part of life is above in heaven, and God is working to get us there.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, help me not to worry, not to close myself off from you and your presence in my life. If I were convinced that you were with me, how could I worry? How could anxieties of daily life oppress me so much? Increase my faith in you. Help me to detach myself from the fleeting pleasures of this passing world. You endure for ever; your love is the strength of my heart.
Resolution: I will make a small sacrifice at each of my meals today for the souls in purgatory
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