The ‘final curtain’
The story is told about a little girl who observed her grandmother going to church often. When she asked the grandma about it, the latter’s reply was: My child, I am cramming now for my “final exams”!
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In today’s GospeI (Matthew 25:1-13) the Lord’s message is clear: “Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Death comes when we least expect it, ‘’like a thief in the night,” so we should always be ready for our “final exams,” but we must also be ready for a “surprise quiz,” which may come anytime.
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Someone once told me an anecdote about a child who asked God: “Lord, you know and understand everything. Is there anything you don’t understand?” And the Lord said: “My child, whenever I look at the world, I don’t understand why people rush their childhood to become adults, and then long to be children again; I don’t understand why people go for wealth and forget their health when they are old; I don’t understand why people live in the past or in the future, and live half-heartedly in the present; and I don’t understand why people live as if they never will die, and they die as if they never have lived.”
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It is so easy to lose our balance and peace with all the events happening around us and with all sorts of people who pressure or annoy us. The best thing to do when such circumstances arise is to listen not so much to our thoughts and feelings inside, but to concentrate on the will of God. Try this prayer: “Lord, what is Your will in what is happening right now? Help me to know Your will, and may Your will be done. Amen.” It is a simple prayer that opens a door and leaves a space for God at any given moment or time, and when God comes in, all the darkness goes out. Try it. In God’s will is true peace. Stay with the divine will. Stay in peace.
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Fr. Ed Guarin, SVD once sent me this text message which is really worth pondering upon: “Strange how people can be so preoccupied with a life they can’t hold on to, and neglect an eternity they can’t run away from.” Yes, time is passing. Eternity is waiting. Who are you? What are you doing? Where are you going?
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We face death every day, while we are awake and even while we sleep. Since we are always on “death stand-by mode,” it would be good to always keep in mind these two questions: What will I bring along? What will I leave behind? If you are constantly aware of these questions, and if you can answer truthfully these questions, then you are wise and you are prepared anytime. What can we bring along? Nothing really, except for the love we have shared. What can we leave behind? A lot! We can leave behind the mess, and the hurts we have created, or the wealth we have stolen or accumulated. Hopefully, we will leave behind lots of love and a better world because we passed by.
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Think about it: Do you really need all the things you carry with you right now? Do you need to accumulate so much excess luggage which make your travel difficult and which may deter you from making it to your final destination? Do you need all trash you are carrying in your heart? Travel light! Actually, constant loading makes life miserable and boring. Constant unloading makes life happy and worth living. Think about it: Not only do the excess wealth and excess trash in your heart make your life miserable. They also could make eternal life for you unattainable!
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For those who worry so much about their health and death, please remember none of us will leave this world alive! Don’t be afraid that your life will end. Be afraid rather that your life will never begin. Yes, let us try our very best while we are still alive. But in the end, let us leave everything to God’s mercy and grace. I asked my good friend Ernesto Michael, what he will say to God when he finally meets Him. This man, who has stared death eyeball to eyeball so many times, said: “Father, when I finally meet God, I’ll tell Him, “Lord, you know that I love you. Have mercy on me, a sinner.” Yes, let us try to live good lives so that when our last moments come, we will have no regrets that we have loved God, and people too little, too late.
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A moment with the Lord:
Lord, help us to live well and love much so that we will have no fears nor regrets when we face the “final curtain.” Amen.
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