Luke 12
Jesus repeatedly tells us to prepare for Judgment Day. But, do I feel its approach even remotely? Honestly speaking, I don’t. Each day gives me enough things to make myself busy. Christmas is not far away now, and our parish Catholic Women’s League ladies are already receiving orders for parish Christmas cards. I am thinking about buying a generator for the parish church for this winter, for we had a bad power outage last winter. Probably many of us are preparing now for this winter. Do I still find time to prepare for Judgment Day? Does it have a place in my mind at all? We want just to get through this pandemic as fast as we can without getting sick. And we wonder about what it would be like after the pandemic. But who thinks about the end of the world now? Many people are patiently waiting for a time we can travel freely overseas. Many are preparing for the post-pandemic era. But no one seems to think the end of the time is coming soon.
However, Jesus once again speaks about the end in today’s gospel. Is he just encouraging moral uprightness by constant watchful care? Or is he reminding us of an actual approaching of the end of time? Anyway, since he spoke, it has been over two thousand years. And the Judgment Day hasn’t arrived yet.
The earliest Christians believed the end was approaching very soon. And they lived according to this assumption. They lived each day as if it was the last day of the world. They shared everything without charge. They cared less about human relationships of blood and marriage but focused on heavenly reality with the pure and chaste body. Were they completely mistaken? Did they waste time?
The wise know death always stands beside life. The one conscious of this reality can savour every breath. The one conscious of the shortness of life does not waste time in building another Tower of Babel.
At the end of the day, I often wonder what this day’s work is meaningful towards life in heaven. And I regret it. Very often lots of works are not so much more meaningful than a full rest all day.
I pray that I may not lose sight of the Lord’s coming. And I pray this alertness may keep me away from useless vanities and let me enjoy the gift of life and the world.
