Preparing for that Time

Nothing lasts forever.  And no one lives in this world forever. There’s a book by Frank Kendig and Richard Hutton called “Life Spans, or How Long Things Last.”  The book reveals that while the life span of certain things are shorter than we might think, the life span of others are quite long. 

For example, a can of beer left behind by some campers on a mountain will still be there in 80 years.  A leather shoe left behind at the same site will be there in 50 years.

But whatever it is – a beer can or a rock – authors Kendig and Hutton assure us that it will eventually disappear.  For, nothing lasts forever. What is true of things is also true of human beings.  Even people who proclaimed, “I don’t intend to die” are now no more. 

We too will eventually disappear.  None of us will live forever in this world.  And that’s precisely the point that Jesus makes in today’s Gospel.

That is why he warns us: “Light your lamps…  You also must be prepared, for in an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”  Although Jesus is referring here to his Second coming, theologians assure us that his words may be taken in two ways.

In the narrow sense they refer to the end of the world.  In the wider sense, however, the words refer to the end of our life.  And it is for the end of our life – or our death – that we must be especially prepared.  All we know is that it will happen.  We will not live forever.

When I was studying philosophy at the Berchmans College, in Cebu, there was a cancer patient at the Perpetual Succour Hospital.  He was a Free Masons, and would not have anything to do with priests. 

However, Fr. Joe Cruz, managed to visit him regularly.  And because he spoke Spanish with the patient, they became friends.  First they talked about the weather and so on.  One day Fr. Cruz started talking to him about returning to the faith. 

Fr. Cruz brought up the question of confession.  The sick man kept saying “Yes, maybe later.”  He kept postponing.

Then one day Fr. Cruz was awaken at 3:00 in the morning by a strange scratching sound, like that of a rat on the roof.  He immediately thought of the dying man in the hospital.  Early in the morning, Father rushed to the hospital.  He was told that the patient died at about 3:00 that morning.

How much time and effort do we spend preparing for a job, a career in his world?  How much time and effort and attention do we give preparing for our eternal life in the next?

Sigmund Freud, the famous Austrian neurologist, had a story that touches on this point of preparedness.  The story concerns a sailor, who was shipwrecked and washed ashore on a South Pacific island.  He was greeted enthusiastically by the natives.  They clapped and sang, hoisted him on their shoulders, carried him to their village, and sat him on a golden throne.

Little by little, the sailor learned what was going on.  The islanders had a custom of occasionally making a man king for a year.  During his kingship he could order his subjects to do anything within reason, and they would obey him without question.

The sailor was delighted that he had been chosen to be the king.  He couldn’t believe his good fortune.

Then one day he began to wonder what happened to a king, when his year of kingship ended.  That’s when his excitement and enthusiasm came to an abrupt stop.  He discovered that at the end of his kingship, 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 his shock, he slowly began to cook up 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.

That story makes a good illustration of what Jesus is telling us in today’s Gospel.  Similarly, Jesus in another part of the Gospel, tells us to provide… “an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.”  He is telling us to do what the sailor did.

Today’s Gospel invites us to ask ourselves how well we are preparing ourselves for that day, when, like the sailor in the story, our life on this planet will come to an end. It invites us to ask ourselves, “If we were to die tonight, how ready would we be to face God?” 

And if our answer to that question leaves something to be desired, then we can be sure that Jesus is speaking to us in a special way through today’s Gospel.

He is saying: “Be like servants, who wait for their master’s return…  You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

That’s the message that Jesus gives us in today’s Gospel.  That’s the message that Jesus wants us to take to heart in this liturgy.

Let’s close with a prayer:

Lord, help us see our lives as you see them –

And as we ourselves will see them

at the Last Judgment.

Help us see those areas in our lives

That need improving or changing.

Help us take those steps necessary

to bring our lives into accord      

with the life you had in mind for us

when you created us.

Amen.