Always ready to face God in judgment

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

“THE feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come.” (Mt 22,8) With these words in the parable about a king who invited guests to a feast, we are reminded that we have to be ready to face God in judgment, because he can call us anytime.

We know that death can come to us anytime. Without developing a gloomy outlook in life but simply to be realistic, we should somehow consider each day as our last day of our life here on earth.

That way, we would be more motivated to prepare ourselves to meet God and to be very discerning about what truly counts in life, knowing that we can easily get confused and lost, tossed to and from and carried away by the changing conditions of our daily life.

Just the same, knowing that we can never be sufficiently prepared for death, we should not be afraid to face God in judgment, since God is always willing to offer us mercy, just as Christ offered mercy to those who crucified him. We should just at least show some signs of repentance at the moment of death.

In other words, we have to be eternity-ready all the time, because we are meant for eternal life in heaven, and not just temporal life here on earth. Our life here on earth is just a testing ground to see if what God wants us to be, that is, to be his image and likeness, children of his, sharers of his life and nature, is also what we want ourselves to be.

We therefore have to be constantly aware that in every event and condition in our life here on earth, that ultimate purpose of our life is always considered and acted upon. We should try to avoid simply getting lost in our temporal affairs.

In this regard, it would be helpful to realize that since God is the creator of the universe, knowing him would lead us to know ourselves and everything else properly. And loving him would enable us to love ourselves and everything else properly as well. God, as fully revealed to us by Christ in the Holy Spirit, should always be the be-all and end-all of our life.

Everyday, we should try to settle accounts with God. In fact, saints and the Church herself have recommended that we make a daily examination of conscience just before going to bed.

This is to see if the day went as it should, that is, if love for God and neighbor is really the motive of all our actions, and so that we at least can be reconciled with God no matter how the day went. We should at least say sorry to God, even if we still have to do things to make up for our mistakes and sins.

This is an important task, because more than just resting physically, mentally or emotionally, we need to be at peace with God at the end of the day. God is everything to us. Regardless of our status at the moment, whether good or bad, moral or immoral, God not only will tell us what to do but also will give us what we need at that time.

God is always available, and what he gives us is also what we actually and ultimately need. What he gives us is at least the actual grace that we need to be able to act good. If corresponded to properly, the actual grace can bring back the state of grace to us.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com