Be always ready for eternity

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

IF we have to have integrity in our Christian life, we should realize that we are meant for eternal life with God in heaven. We therefore should be always prepared for it, ready also to leave everything behind in this world which is meant only as a means and pathway in our journey toward our ultimate destination. While we have to immerse ourselves in the things of this world, we should not allow ourselves to get entangled with them.

We are somehow reminded of all these truths of our faith in that gospel episode where Christ somehow described some terrible things that would happen just before end of the world. (cfr. Lk 21,5-11)

“The days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down,” he said. And he added, “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end…Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”

So, we are actually amply warned about what to expect as the end of time approaches. We just have to be ready and prepared for our definitive eternal life with God in heaven. In a sense, we should always be eternity-ready, prepared to leave everything behind, avoiding unnecessary complications due to some undue attachments and entanglements we can have with the things of this world.

In this regard, we should always realize that of all the things that we have to take care of, it should be our spiritual life, our relation with God and with others that should be given precedence always. We should try to see to it that our spiritual life is vibrant and healthy, fruitful and productive, seeing to it that it enjoys the highest level of Christian integrity that we, with God’s grace, can attain.

We should not be afraid to be aware always of this truth about death, the end of the world and our duty to reach the goal of eternal life. That awareness should not be regarded as some kind of sword of Damocles. Such awareness would actually make us most realistic about our life here on earth, helping us to be very discerning of the many things in our life, so we would know what to think, judge and do, avoiding getting lost in our earthly sojourn.

Especially these days when we are easily carried away by many distracting elements, we need to remind ourselves quite strongly that we have to be well focused on what is truly essential in our life.

We have to remind ourselves that our life here on earth is actually a testing and training ground for what God, our Father and Creator, wants us to be, that is, that we be his image and likeness, adopted children of his, meant to share in his very own life in eternity.

Everything that we are, we have and we do in this life should be made as an occasion, material or reason for us to attain that God-given goal for us. Everything should be related and referred to him. Simply being on our own and doing things on our own, without any reference to God, is an anomaly. It would surely end in tragedy even if we feel we are having a good time in our life.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com