August 29, 2004: On Social Life

The Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 29, 2004



One of the most beloved saints of the church is St. Elizabeth of Hungary, whose feast we celebrate on November 17. Elizabeth, who lived in the 13th century, was the daughter of a king. When she was just four years old, her parents prearranged her marriage, as was the custom of the times. Elizabeth’s future husband was Louis — not himself a king, but a member of the nobility. Louis was a very kind and virtuous man, and he became a most worthy ruler.

Now, Louis had a younger sister named Agnes, a girl who was the same age as Elizabeth. But when it came to their character, Agnes and Elizabeth were total opposites.

Agnes loved fancy clothes and dances and lavish dinner parties. Her favorite thing in life was to have a good time and make a big splash wherever she went. Elizabeth, on the other hand, couldn’t stand all the glitzy outfits and jewelry she was expected to wear. She hated all the phoniness and posturing and wicked gossiping.

Instead, Elizabeth really tried to live a good and humble Christian life. On Sundays, when she went to Mass — which she did faithfully — she would “accidentally on purpose” leave her gloves home so the poor girls who didn’t have any wouldn’t feel bad. In church, she took her crown off and put it back on only when Mass was over. For Elizabeth, the only real royalty in church was Jesus.

Agnes and her friends thought Elizabeth was a fool. They criticized her, laughed at her, and even snubbed her because she wasn’t interested in the things they thought were important. Yet isn’t it funny: here we are, 800 years later, and the only reason we remember Agnes at all is to compare her to the girl who had sense enough to see the really valuable things in life… a girl who went on to become St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

In the Gospel today, we read that Jesus went to have dinner at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. Naturally, people had their eye on Our Lord. There are several places in the Bible where we find Jesus enjoying a social life, as we might call it. Another famous example is when He goes to the marriage feast at Cana.

Social life was important for Jesus. He realized that getting together with other human beings and just enjoying their company is an important and fun part of life.

The saints, like Elizabeth of Hungary, also realized this, but they put social life in its proper perspective. We can learn a lot about meeting and mingling with others from looking at the example of Our Lord and the saints.

To begin with, it’s pretty apparent that your social life can be a good or a bad thing. It can help you to become a better, more virtuous person, or it can drag you down and lead you to vice. Your social life might even be a major factor in the salvation or damnation of your soul.

The people you socialize with have a lot of power over you. That’s why parents make such a big deal over the friends their kids spend time with. The friends you choose can lift you up or pull you down — spiritually and in many other ways, as well. And in the same way, you can be a means of good or evil for the people you hang around with. Isn’t it sobering to think that YOU may be a key factor in whether your friends and family make it to heaven!

To some extent, it’s impossible to choose many of our friends and acquaintances. Circumstances may simply throw us together — things like business, school, our neighborhood, the clubs and teams and activities we participate in.

Still, you do have a lot of control over who your steady friends are — the people you like best and choose to spend time with. The example of the saints, as always, is a helpful guide to what a good social life should be like.

First, we see that it’s wise to associate with people who respect our faith. As much as possible, it’s important to favor Catholic friends — not to the exclusion of non-Catholics, but for the most part — because Catholics can understand and encourage each other when it comes to our religion and religious practices — like when to go to Mass, not to eat meat on Fridays in Lent, how to prepare for marriage, and lots of other things. People of the same faith are also likely to share the same moral values. That’s an important help, especially in our crazy world today.

The saints show us that it’s also smart to steer clear of people who criticize religion in general, and our Catholic faith in particular. Beware of people who tear down the Church, or criticize the Pope or Bishop or Priests, or dissent from the Church's teachings and doctrines. We also ought to avoid people who curse and swear and tell smutty stories. Stay away from people who drink too much or who think the only way to have a good time is by bringing sex into the picture. Keep away from social climbers and social butterflies whose only interest in life is themselves and having a good time.

Please understand that these are not recommendations to be snobbish or standoffish — but simply to avoid a steady social diet of people who are likely to draw you away from the things of God and weaken you and hurt your soul.

On the other hand, our social life should include active works of mercy — things like visiting the sick, the elderly, and the poor… going out of our way to make friends and strangers alike feel welcome and comfortable… looking for ways to be useful and helpful. These are the things that St. Elizabeth did — and that’s why she expected that she’d get to heaven! Making someone else happy is the best way to be truly happy yourself. Try it.

If Christ and the saints could enjoy a happy social life, then surely we can do the same. It’s good and necessary for body and soul. But may we always learn from them how to make our socializing wholesome, upstanding, and Catholic.

Let us pray that the Lord will bless us and guide us always. Amen.




Today’s Readings:
Sirach 3, 17–29
Psalm 68
Hebrews 12, 18–24
Luke 14, 1 and 7–14

(School Mass): Feast of St. Monica (Fri., Aug. 27, 2004)

In our first reading this morning, St. Paul — the same St. Paul that our church and school are named after! — is writing to the people of Corinth. He tells them that the main reason that Jesus sent him was to preach and teach. And what is he supposed to preach and teach about? The cross.

There’s a wooden cross right over there next to the altar. And on that cross we see the body of Jesus. There’s a crucifix like that in every classroom in our school. Hopefully you’ve even got one in your bedroom at home. What is the lesson that St. Paul is talking about?

He says that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing — but to those of us who are being saved it is the power of God. In other words, somehow, if we believe in the message of the cross, Jesus will make us strong and show us how to get to heaven. But if we think it’s silly or not very important, then it means that we’re perishing. “Perishing” means “dying” or “being destroyed.”

This sounds pretty serious! Let’s see if we can figure out what St. Paul is trying to say.

The crucifix shows us that Jesus Christ was willing to give up his life out of love for all of us. He paid the price for everybody’s sins. God the Father was so pleased with this sacrifice, that he opened the gates to heaven so that everybody who wants to can get in. So the message of the cross is that even when something really bad happens —like having to die on a cross — God will use it for a good purpose: to help us get into heaven. But if we try to run away from the cross, then we’re going to miss out on God’s special help.

Now here’s how we’re supposed to use this lesson in our own life:

Let’s say that someone teases you or picks on you. If you believe in the message of the cross, then you will put up with it just the way Jesus put up with His suffering. So you might ignore the person, or forgive him, or pray for him.

But if you don’t believe in the message of the cross, then maybe you’ll call him a name back, or punch him, or do something else to get even. The thing that’s wrong with this is that instead of relying on God to take care of things for you, you say, “No! I don’t need God. I can take care of it all by myself.”

Or maybe your cross is having to study or do homework instead of going out to play. If you believe in the message of the cross, then you’ll say to yourself, “OK, I’m going to do my work even though it’s not what I’d really rather be doing” — and God will bless you for it. But if you ignore your school work just to have fun, then you know that your grades will go down, your parents won’t be happy with you, and you can have all kinds of trouble in school.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Monica. She lived a long time ago — 1700 years ago. She was the mother of Saint Augustine; tomorrow is his feast day.

St. Monica loved God very much and was a faithful Christian lady. But her husband did not believe in Jesus. And to make matters worse, he had a terrible temper. Monica was very loving and patient. She didn’t yell back at her husband. She put up with him and prayed for him very hard. God was happy with Monica, and before her husband died, he decided to become a Christian and get baptized. So Monica’s willingness to carry her cross saved her husband’s soul!

Was that the end of it for Monica? Oh no. She also found out that her son, Augustine, was living a bad, selfish life. He refused to go to church and committed many sins. Once again, Monica had to pick up her cross. She cried and prayed and offered penances for her son. She talked to priests and asked for advice and prayers. She never gave up on him. Then one day, after many years, Augustine was converted and he became a great priest and bishop and teacher of the Catholic faith — and a very famous saint, too.

It’s wonderful that our Church has saints like Monica who can give us a great example to follow. If you think that something that’s happening to you isn’t fair, or if it’s very painful or difficult, say a little prayer to St. Monica. She understands what you’re going through, and she’ll pray to God for you to make you stronger. And like St. Monica, we shouldn’t get discouraged if our prayers don’t get answered right away; we have to keep praying. Jesus promises us that if we ask, we shall receive.

So think about what St. Paul says about the cross. It’s the power of God in the hands of those who believe. Let’s all be believers! Amen.

August 22, 2004: Will I Get Into Heaven?

The Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 22, 2004



I don’t know about you, but I find Jesus’ Gospel message today a bit disconcerting. His words make us stop and think—and realize that getting into heaven is not an automatic thing—not even for a priest!

Somebody who heard Christ preaching asked: “You mean, only a few are going to be saved?” And Our Lord most assuredly did not say: “Oh no, everybody’s coming to heaven! As long as you’re baptized, you’re in!”

No indeed. Instead, He said that if you want to be saved—in other words, if you want to get into heaven in the next life—then you have be strong enough to navigate a narrow and challenging path through this life.

The problem is, many of us—if not most of us—live as though we don’t believe Jesus. We’re gentle on ourselves. We settle for being what we think are “basically good” people… people “entitled” to a lot of things and a lot of “wiggle room” in the moral life… yet deep down, don’t we really know that we’ve got quite a few flaws and imperfections… and maybe some sinful attitudes and habits, too? The burning question is: “Is ‘basically good’ going to be ‘good enough’ to get through those pearly gates?” And with what Christ says today, frankly, the answer is No.

As human beings, we all live in the material world—a place where we use our five senses to see, hear, touch, smell and taste… a place where we also use our inner faculty of memory to file away our experiences… a place where we rely on our spiritual faculties of intelligence and free will to guide us on our way through life. We are able to use all these human powers because the soul injects the breath of life.

The soul, as you surely know, is purely spiritual and therefore immortal. While the body will live just a short time, relatively speaking, the soul lasts forever. So during the time we’re here on earth, you might say that we’ve got a foot in two separate worlds: the visible world, or the world of the senses… and the invisible world, or the world of the spirit.

The visible world is obvious and has a major impact on us. It is the whole world around us: the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the entire material universe which we perceive and sample with our five senses. But we also live in an invisible world of realities—things that we cannot see… but just because we can’t see them doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.

There are lots of invisible things in the natural order, yet we all believe in them. I have thoughts and desires and ideas and emotions. We know these are real, but you can’t put them in a test tube. We’re surrounded by atoms and molecules and germs and radio and television waves and electrical currents and so forth—but we don’t perceive them because they’re invisible. Yet we know they are very real. No one denies the reality of gravity or magnetism, even though you can’t see them.

There are also many realities not in the natural, but in the supernatural order, which we can’t see. They’re also invisible. God, for instance. He’s a pure spirit, so we can’t perceive Him with our five senses. Other invisible, supernatural realities include Jesus’ resurrected body, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the angels and saints in heaven, and the sanctifying grace given when the Sacraments are conferred. So at Mass, for example, when the priest speaks the words of consecration, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ—yet no one can perceive this amazing transformation in his five senses. We know it by faith alone, because Jesus said it and told us to do it in remembrance of Him.

It’s the same when someone is baptized. We hear the words and see water being poured over his head—but we don’t see sin being washed away, or grace being put into the soul, or the character being marked on the soul, or the adoption as a child of God, or the gifts of the Holy Spirit being poured into the newly-baptized person.

Yet even though we can’t see these awesome spiritual realities, they absolutely are real—and in fact, are far more important for the person’s existence than anything else he might have, like health or wealth or power or prestige. That’s because everything earthly will sooner or later pass away, but grace is forever.

In the world of America in the year 2004, spiritual realities are not held in high regard. You already know that. Our culture is almost totally materialistic, and we have a strong tendency towards atheism. In our world, if you can’t see it, weigh it, or measure it, then we really have little time or interest for it. So as for spiritual realities… well, we either deny them or neglect them.

We Catholics, like all of our human brothers and sisters, have no choice but to live in this materialistic world. But Our Lord teaches that while we must live in the world, we must not be of the world. The most important things in our lives are—or at least ought to be—not what is visible, but what is invisible: the Holy Trinity, Jesus and Mary, the grace of the Sacraments, the Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, grace, the communion of saints, and our eternal destiny of heaven or hell—one of which is absolutely certain when we die.

So there’s the clue that the Lord wants us to understand in the Gospel today. If we want to pass through that narrow gate rather than slam into a brick wall, we’ve got to take a long, hard look at our priorities in life—and rearrange things, as necessary. This, of course, is a lifelong process. Begin by praying for a deeper faith and the wisdom to understand what’s really important—and the courage to make the tough decisions to turn around your life while there’s still time. Amen!




Today’s Readings:
Isaiah 66, 18–21
Psalm 117
Hebrews 12, 5–13
Luke 13, 22–30

August 20, 2004: First Mass of the New School Year

St. Paul’s School
Danville, Illinois
Feast of St. Bernard
August 20, 2004

It’s probably hard for you to believe that summer vacation is over and you’re back in school again for another year! As for me, it’s hard to believe that after being gone from Danville for six years, I’m back again as your priest here.

If we haven’t met before, my name is Father Jeff Lawrence. You can call me Father Jeff if you like. I’m really looking forward to getting to know everybody at St. Paul’s School. Since there are 300 of you, it’s probably going to take me a while to learn everyone’s names. But please be patient with me, especially if I ask you for the 14th time: “What’s your name again?”

Besides getting to know me, you’ll also get to know my new dog, Maggie. She’s already gotten to meet many of you. She likes to run and jump and give doggie kisses. Maggie is very gentle and friendly, so I think you’ll be seeing a lot of her. I tried to sign her up for preschool, but Mrs. Buesking told me that she’s still too young.

I know that some of you girls and boys are new students this year, too. Well, I guess we’ll stick together and we’ll pray that the kids who have been here a long time will be nice to us and welcome us.

In case you didn’t know it, the reason that I’m here at St. Paul’s is because our bishop — Bishop Jenky — sent me here. The Bishop is Jesus’ apostle in our special corner of Illinois called a diocese. We’re in the Diocese of Peoria. A priest listens to his bishop just as though Jesus was speaking to him directly.

That’s the same reason why Father Doug had to go to Bloomington. The Bishop needed him for important work in another parish.

A priest is a helper to the bishop. It’s a priest’s job to be a father to the people of his parish. It sounds a little funny, because some of my children are much older than me! Some of my children are close to 100 years old! But that’s OK. I’m a spiritual father, not your flesh and blood father.

So now you know that you have two dads: your flesh-and-blood father at home, and your spiritual father here at St. Paul’s. Just please don’t hit me up for an allowance, or else I’d go broke with so many children!

At home, your other dad, along with your mom, has a big responsibility to take care of you. He makes sure you have a place to live, clothes to wear, food on the table, and he teaches you a lot of important stuff to help you become happy, responsible adults.

Here at church, my job as your spiritual dad is to take care of your soul and help you to know Jesus. Jesus, of course, is God’s Son and He loves all of us very much. He wants us to be happy and safe in this life, and especially He wants us to learn to know Him, love Him and serve Him so we can be with Him forever in heaven. He promises that heaven will be so wonderful and awesome, that we can’t even begin to imagine what it will be like. He asks us to believe Him and trust Him.

Well, let me introduce you to Jesus. We’ll talk about Him in church and in school. We’ll meet Him in the Sacraments we celebrate together—like Mass, confession, baptism, confirmation, First Holy Communion. We’ll hear His words in the Bible. And He’ll be with us when we do kind and loving things for each other.

I have to apologize to you, though. Your real dad makes sure you have food every single day. When you say, “Dad, I’m hungry. Can I have breakfast?”—he never says, “No, sweetheart. You ate yesterday. Why don’t you ask me again on Monday.” That’s ridiculous!

Jesus wants me to feed you His Body and Blood every day, too, because your soul needs spiritual food as much as your body needs regular food. But this year, I’m afraid that we’re only going to have Mass twice a week: once on Friday with the school, and once of course on Saturday night or Sunday morning when you come with your family. So please forgive me for that. If you feel like your soul is starving, you can always come to 7:15 Mass any morning of the week before school starts!

So what can we say about Jesus to start off this brand new school year? Maybe some of you had a chance this summer to see the new Harry Potter movie. I haven’t seen it yet, but I read all the books. Harry, as you may know, went off to Hogwarts School to study to become a wizard. He and his friends learned all kinds of interesting ways to tap into magical powers. The magic didn’t happen instantly, though. The wizardry students had to do a lot of reading, study hard and practice a lot to learn their magical arts. Harry discovered that there was a lot that he didn’t know. There’s a good lesson for all of us. We have to work hard if we want to be a successful student.

As fun as it may be to think about, though, Harry Potter is fiction. Fantasy. No one can point a wand, say a few words, and turn another person into a rat. No one can jump onto a broomstick and fly around on it. It just isn’t real.

But I want you to listen to something that really is very amazing: St. Paul’s School can teach you incredible powers that will put Hogwarts School to shame! If you’re prepared to work as hard as Harry, Ron and Hermione did, you will master these sacred arts.

Catholics, you see, receive a most unique and powerful set of gifts when they are baptized. You’ve got them all! But unfortunately, most people never learn to use their powers except maybe just a very little bit. And that’s a terrible thing. It’s like being very, very rich and not even knowing it!

What are these powers all about? Maybe the best way to explain it is to say that they let you and God become best friends. And because you’re best friends, God will start to do amazing things for you. Really good things, like opening up undreamed-of opportunities, help you out of close calls, protect you against dangers, fill you with a lot of happiness, help the people you love, and lots more. These are not Harry Potter stories; these are absolutely real!

I guarantee you this: God will open up all these gifts to you, but only on one condition: you really have to want them and go after them.

I’m going to teach you how. So will your teachers.

When Bishop Jenky first came to our diocese two years ago, I’ll never forget what he said at his first public Mass. He looked around at the crowd of people, he spread his arms wide and said, “Isn’t it great to be Catholic!” Everybody cheered, because they knew just what I’m telling you. God has the best of the best for Catholics, because we completely accepted His Son, Jesus.

At this Mass today, please join your hearts and prayers with mine that this is going to be a fantastic year. We want to ask for God’s powerful blessings on all of us: students, teachers, school staff, families and friends. And please be enthusiastic and excited as you begin this new year, because this is the start of one awesome journey of faith!

Amen!

August 15, 2004: The Assumption of Mary into Heaven

Feast of the Assumption of Mary
August 15, 2004


Today is a bit of an unusual day on the Church calendar. In place of celebrating the Mass of a regular Sunday—which, as you know, is considered a “mini-Easter”—we instead honor our Blessed Mother on the occasion of her Assumption into heaven. What could be so important about this feast that moves the Church to pull a “trump card” on the Lord’s Day?

Obviously, we don’t value Mary more than Jesus Himself. Nothing and no one is holier or more important than God in any of His divine Persons.

Yet there is something so remarkable and awesome about Our Lady that we’ve simply got to recognize it and celebrate it—just exactly as the Church has done from her very first days until now.

God’s amazing plan of redemption for the human race meant that the Savior, the Messiah, had to be true man and true God. God supplied the divine part, and for reasons known only to Himself, He chose Mary to supply the human part—which she did by freely accepting the Archangel Gabriel’s invitation to become the Mother of God’s Son. Can you imagine the courage and grace it took on Mary’s part to say “yes”?

God had prepared Mary for this very sacred mission by seeing to it that she was conceived in her own mother Anne’s womb without the stain of original sin. Only in this way could Mary furnish the immaculately pure womb for the Christ baby to grow in.

All through Jesus’ life, His Blessed Mother had to endure much suffering. No, it was not to be a life of privilege and ease for Mary. When Mary and Joseph presented the Child Jesus in the Temple—we celebrate this event on February 2nd each year—you may recall that Simeon prophesied that Mary’s heart would be pierced with a sword. And it was—repeatedly!—culminating in having to watch her only Son die on the cross.

Mary’s faithful service to God didn’t end when Jesus was crucified. From the cross, Our Lord entrusted John the Beloved Disciple to His Mother: “Behold, your Son!” He said to her. We know that Mary continued to live her life among the Apostles.

Throughout all of her life’s experiences, this much we know about Mary: she was always faithful and she never sinned. It’s perhaps hard for us to understand how a mother could see so much pain in her Child’s life and not ever lash out in frustration… or get angry with God… or seek emotional relief in some other sinful way. But without original sin, Mary wasn’t subject to concupiscence or that tendency to fall into sin that the rest of us struggle with. She truly was a “new Eve,” but one who never bit into the forbidden fruit.

So, when her earthly mission was complete, God gave Mary a special privilege never before known in human history. He “assumed” her into heaven, body and soul; in other words, He brought her to Himself in a most special way. Did she die first? We don’t know. In the Eastern Churches, they have a beautiful understanding called the “Dormition”; they explain that Mary simply went to sleep and got out of bed in heaven.

Whether you prefer to believe that Mary died and was carried body and soul into heaven… or simply went to sleep and woke up there… it really doesn’t matter that much. It doesn’t matter how many angels can dance on the head of a pin! We simply rejoice in awe at the great thing that God has done for this holy daughter of His—and for us, too.

In heaven, of course, Mary enjoys the highest privilege imaginable. God crowned her Queen of Heaven and Earth. She joyfully serves as Mother to all human beings, and the angels, too. Imagine! Your very own mother as Queen of the Universe! Her love, and the almost infinite power of her intercession, are yours for the asking. Truly, how blessed we are!

When I was a child growing up in New York, one of the worst insults one kid could dish out against another was to say mean things about his mother. Many a nose was bloodied over nasty remarks about somebody’s mom.

I think it’s just as terrible that we Catholics often have to endure the same kind of ignorant comments about Mary. We’re sometimes asked, “Why do you people worship Mary?” or “Why do you bow down in front of her statue?” or “I don’t see why you can’t pray directly to Jesus without going through her.” What’s with that tone?

The irony, of course, is that most of the people who say these things follow religions that have scarcely been around for 100 years, if that! They conveniently reject the truths and eyewitness reports of 1900 years’ worth of disciples and believers. Why, even Martin Luther himself had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin. So I encourage you not to be bullied or intimidated by someone who appears to know less about true Christianity than Maggie—she’s a good Catholic dog, you know!—but to stand up bravely for Truth and all the majesty and splendor of our Sacred Tradition. If you’re a bit shaky on the facts, study a bit! The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a great place to start.

How lovely and beautiful you are, O Virgin Mary. You have left this world to be joined with Christ. You are worthy of all our love and praise. Pray for us, dearest Mother. Amen.



Today’s Readings:
Revelation 11, 19 and 12, 1–10
Psalm 45
1 Corinthians 15, 20–27
Luke 1, 39–56

August 8, 2004: Preparing for the Master's Return

The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 8, 2004



Once upon a time, there was a sailor who was shipwrecked. He washed ashore on a South Pacific island. When the natives found him, they were overjoyed. They clapped their hands with glee and they sang. Why, they even hoisted the man up on their shoulders and carried him to their village… and when they arrived there, they put a crown on his head and sat him on a golden throne.

Little by little, the sailor learned what was going on.

The islanders, you see, had a rather unusual custom. Occasionally, they would make a man their king — but only for one year. And during his reign, he could order his subjects to do anything within reason, and they would obey him without question.

Well, the sailor was delighted that he was chosen to be the king. He could hardly believe his good fortune.

Then one day, he began to wonder what happened to a king when his year of kingship came to an end. That’s when his excitement and enthusiasm came to an abrupt end.

He discovered that at the end of his year’s reign, he would be banished to a barren island, called King’s Island. There, he would be left to starve to death as a sacrifice to the gods.

After the sailor recovered from the shock, he slowly began to put together a plan.

As king, he ordered the carpenters of the island to build a fleet of small boats. When the boats were ready, he ordered the farmers of the island to dig up fruit trees and plants, put them in the boats, and transplant them on King’s Island. Finally, he ordered the stone masons to build a house on King’s Island.

In this way, the sailor prepared carefully for the day when his kingship would end and he would be banished to King’s Island.

This story is a good illustration of what Jesus tells us in the Gospel today. The Lord tells us that while we’re here on earth, and while we’re able, we should lay up for ourselves treasure in heaven: “Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.”

In other words, Jesus tells us that we should do exactly what the sailor did.

Today’s Gospel urges us to ask ourselves how well we’re preparing ourselves for that day when, like the sailor in the story, our life here on earth will come to an end. Jesus asks a most important question: “If you were to die tonight, how ready are you to face God?”

If your answer to that question leaves something to be desired, then you can be sure that the Lord is speaking to you in a special way through His Gospel today. “Be like servants who await their master’s return,” He says. “You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

The great bishop and doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus Liguori — whose feast we celebrated on August 1st — had some very short but very wise advice on preparing for death. He said:
(1) do now what I must do before I die;
(2) do now what on my deathbed I will wish that I had done; and
(3) do now what I cannot do on my deathbed.

If you knew that you had one week… or one day… or even just one hour before God would call you home, what would you do?

Yesterday, as I was driving home from Ohio, a friend from my old parish called on my cell phone and asked whether I had heard the heart-sickening news from Streator: a bunch of teenage boys—17-year-olds, a couple of them “my kids” from St. Stephen’s—got into a car wreck: two dead, two air-flighted to Peoria in critical condition. Invincible teenagers who were certain they had their whole lives ahead of them…

So I repeat: If you knew that you had one week… or one day… or even just one hour before God would call you home, what would you do? I imagine you’d waste no time to make a good confession and make restitution for your sins as much as you were able to. You’d also want to forgive the people you’ve been holding a grudge against or whom you’ve been angry at… tell some people that you love them… give away many of your possessions — especially to help the poor and those most in need… and pray earnestly for a happy death and a quick entrance into heaven…

Well, what are you waiting for?

Jesus says, “Stay awake and be ready! For you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Yes, death is certain, but the timing of death is uncertain. Since that’s the case, won’t the wise man and woman — and child and teenager, too! — always want to be prepared? Don’t put off until tomorrow the preparations you should be making today… there may not be a tomorrow!

Dear children of the Lord, preparing for death this way is not morbid; it’s the smartest thing in the world. Thinking soberly about dying is a grace from God to help you want to change a lot of things in your life while there’s still time. Act on those inspirations. That’s precisely how you store up treasure in heaven and stay prepared for the Master’s return.

May God bless you today and always!




Today’s Readings:
Wisdom 18, 6–9
Psalm 33
Hebrews 11, 1–2 and 8–19
Luke 12, 32–48