This business of wrapping up

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

WE have to learn how to wrap up our daily activities so that at the end of the day we can present to God what we have done in obedience to his command for us to be fruitful and productive in this life.

We are reminded of this aspect of our Christian life in that gospel episode where some people asked Christ about when the Kingdom of God would appear. But Christ, instead of answering them directly, told them the parable of a nobleman who, before leaving on a journey, gave his 10 servants some gold coins and instructed them to do business with them. (cfr. Lk 19,11-28)

In other words, Christ told them not to worry so much about when the Kingdom of God would appear. Instead, they should be more concerned about how they should be doing in their temporal affairs because only when they do well in this area would they be properly prepared for the Kingdom of God when it finally comes.

We have to realize that what Christ told those people is also what he telling us now. Instead of being too concerned about the end of time and Judgment Day, what we should rather do is to see to it that we are always prepared for them by carrying out our duties in this life as best that we can. In short, that we should be as fruitful and productive as we can be in obedience to what God commands us.

This concern will obviously involve that practice of planning and managing our earthly affairs well so that we can be fruitful and productive as God wants us to be. As much as possible, we should avoid leaving our affairs purely to chance. It’s definitely helpful to have some kind of a to-do list, and to establish a proper focus, always wary of the many possible distractions that can come along way.

Thus, we should realize that the practice of wrapping up our daily affairs is a must. It’s a way of summarizing our daily affairs, hopefully bringing them to good conclusion. It’s a way of monitoring the progress of our daily duties, making some kind of balance sheet, tying some loose ends, and preparing the so-called deliverables.

We should inculcate the need of developing this practice to everyone, especially the young ones who are often distracted and trapped in their own world, unable to relate themselves to the ultimate purpose of our life.

In this regard, it’s important that everyone gets to have a truly global picture of life, developing a sense of time that is connected to eternity. We have to realize that what would truly connect time with eternity is when whatever we do here on earth is done with faith, hope and charity with God as the main object and all the others as an unavoidable accompaniment of the exercise of these virtues.

We should not be doing things with purely earthly and temporal goals only. We need to refer them to our eternal goal with God. That is why, St. Paul said, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10,31)

We should learn how to make everything we do as a form of prayer. St. Paul articulated this truth when he said, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thes 5,17) And this is always possible and practicable since all that is needed is the awareness that everything we do is done with God and for God.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com