The time is now for us to make a choice - “For at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Luke a message we all should take to heart….”You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come”….Do we lose sight of the fact that our life on this earth will one day end?……And when that day comes - Are we prepared to face the Lord?……In today’s Gospel Jesus tells his 12 friends something interesting, which I want to explore in this reflection….”That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more”……We only know what we know - Therefore our culpability to sin is measured by not only our actions but our full knowledge of what we are doing…..Many people commit objective mortal sin without knowing fully the weight of what they are doing…..For a sin to be mortal, one has to have full knowledge that the action is grave in nature…Many people in our society are very sincere when it comes to certain behaviors that our culture has deemed “acceptable”….Again, God is the judge, I am not nor are established “cultural norms”, however the question I want to put forth today is - Are we actively searching for the Truth?……If we open our heart and mind to search for the Truth, we will ALWAYS end up where we have to be…..This I believe will be asked of us when we stand before God….While many people may not fully be aware that their actions were an offense to God…..The question asked by God could very well be - Were you actively search for the Truth?….Was this search a priority to you?…..The interesting thing about the Truth is - Its written on the hearts of every human being….And until we find it, our hearts are not at rest - Take that one to the bank because it is TRUE!…..God made us this way for a reason…..When a person is “not at rest”…They need to actively search…..If we become complacent….If accept the “status quo” and settle…..Not only will we never arrive at a place where our “hearts will be at rest”…But we are to a certain degree making a conscience choice - Are we not? - Rejecting what God has to offer to us in the here and now…..The choice is ours - Are we searching for God with an open heart and mind?…Trust me - If you are - You will find him

“Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you”

I am 55 years old and in the last five years I have lost to death four very good friends, three to cancer and one had a heart attack…All were under the age of 60 years old….One of the four was my college roommate Jude…Jude was a mountain of a man….He had the mind of an engineer and the body of a professional wrestler…I spoke to Jude two weeks before he died of cancer from his hospital bed in California….The first thing he told me on the phone when we spoke that day was…”Joe, I’m not dying”……I knew he was very sick and to be honest, I think so did he…..That last conversation we had makes me think…..Was Jude prepared to stand before God?…..This is a very real question, one we all must think about even if it makes us uncomfortable…….Because one day - We all will be in Jude’s position - Facing death.........And are we prepared?……As a Catholic, the goal of life is to live in the state of grace…That means to be free of mortal sin…What is mortal sin?….It has three components….The sin has to be grave in nature….The person must have full knowledge that the sin is grave in nature….And the person commits that sin anyway knowing just how grave the action is…..Our Church teaches and so does the Scripture that if such a person dies in the state of mortal sin…They go to hell…Yes - Mortal sin exists and so does hell…..To rationalize this reality away is frankly not an adult way to live your life…Why do I say that?…..Because you too will die one day….And so will I…..Are we prepared?

“Stay awake and be ready! For you do not know on what day your Lord will come”

Today Jesus at Mass tells his friends that we must consider the hour of our death…Something each and every person will one day face….God is not interested in your achievements - God is interested in YOU…..In my work with Mother Teresa’s sisters in India, I have seen many people die, some right before my eyes….The interesting thing about death is, all people die the same way….I have watched this with my own two eyes….The dying person’s breathing slows down in measured bursts until it stops altogether…..If you get one thing out of this reflection, let this be it - The goal of every human life should be to hear these words when we stand before God after our “time is up” here on earth…..”Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy”…I can not speak for anyone else, but that is what I want to hear from Christ when I stand before him - If you do too - The time is now for us to make a choice - “For at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come”