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| After the tsunami in Indonesia 2005 |
Whenever there is a natural, or human disaster, especially when it affects us directly, it makes us stop and think. In Feb 2018, in Parkland, Florida, there was the horrific school massacre, where seventeen students were shot dead. One minute they were just at school as normal, the next minute they were dead. Think of any one of those teenagers who died. One moment they were just getting on with their school day, then suddenly they were before God in another world, knowing what their whole life was about. That could be any of us.
In hurricane Ian in 2022, 160 lost their lives. One minute they are just preparing for the hurricane, not expecting anything other than a normal hurricane. The next minute they find themselves before God for their judgement.
C.S. Lewis wrote, ‘God shouts to us [in our] pain. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.’
If you were suddenly told, as in the Gospel, ‘This very night the demand will be made for your soul,’ What would you focus on for the rest of the day? Would I be worried about paying bills, or loans, or focusing on a new car I had just bought? I doubt it. I’d imagine my focus would turn to the people I love and also to wondering how I have lived my life so far.
At the moment, many people in our society—including Christians—are living as though there is no after-life, as though our life on earth is everything. At funerals I often hear people talking about the dead person as though that were it. Their existence is over. You hear people say, ‘I will never be able to speak to them again, or see them again.’ If that were so, then we might as well grab all we can and make our life as comfortable as possible, because we only have one chance.
But our faith tells us something completely different. Perhaps the most important thing it tells us, is that we will not find full happiness in this life, but in the next, if we choose God. Complete happiness is not to be found in this life. We will have moments of great happiness, and hopefully we will find overall contentment, but that’s about as good as it gets. Once we realize that, it makes things easier as we won’t be expecting to find complete fulfilment here. St. Paul wrote: ‘If our faith in Christ is for this world only, then of all people we are the most to be pitied.’ (1 Cor 15:19).
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| The grotto in Lourdes where Our Lady appeared in 1858 |
When Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes in 1858, one of the things she said to her was, ‘I cannot promise you happiness in this life, but in the next’ and in Fatima she said, ‘If people knew what heaven was like, they would do everything to change their ways.’ The point of that message and of the teachings of Jesus, is to remind us not to ‘miss the bus,’ so to speak. It is important that we don’t forget what our life is really about. We are only on this earth for a short time. It is a time of preparation for the world to come. Use it well.
Jesus used various parables addressing this. The parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30). A man going on a journey entrusts his property to three servants. To the first he gave ten talents, which actually meant money. To the second five talents and to the third, one, each according to his ability. The first two invested what they had and made more. They used the gifts God had given them, as God expects us to do with whatever gifts, talents, money He has entrusted to us. The third man didn’t invest it. He just buried it and then gave it back to his master as he received it. He was condemned for not doing anything. The Lord is telling us that He expects us to make good use of what He has given us, whether a great amount or very little. God holds us accountable and we should take it seriously. It is not something we should be afraid of, but responsible for. It is interesting that in the Bible people who love God are referred to as God-fearing people, not God-loving. There is a certain loving-fear, you might call it, when our faith grows.
There is also the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matt 25:31-46), where those who lived righteously—the sheep—are commended by God for how they lived. Jesus says, ‘When I was hungry you fed me, sick and you visited me, naked and you clothed me.’ They ask, ‘Lord when did we feed you, or come to your aid when you were in need?’ Jesus says, ‘Whatever you did for the least of my brothers you did for me.’
Then the other group—the goats—who did not take care of those around them are condemned. They say, ‘Lord when did we not feed you, or clothe you, or sick and in prison and visit you?’ And Jesus says, ‘Whatever you did to the least of these brothers of mine, you did to me.’ And it finishes by saying they went off to eternal punishment and the others to eternal life.’ God holds us accountable. It’s interesting that one of the satanic symbols is the goat.
In Jesus’ time greed for money was just as much a problem as it is now and it will probably always be that way. When this man said to Jesus, ‘Tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance,’ Jesus pointed out to the disciples the danger of this desire. He said, ‘Watch out for this.’ ‘A person’s life is not made secure by what he owns.’ The problem is that our society tells us the opposite. We are all the time being told that if we have enough of everything, we will be happy, but that is not what the Lord teaches us. That’s not where our happiness comes from.
There was a priest called Benedict Groeschel who founded the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in the Bronx in New York. He was a great preacher and he tells the story of a man he knew, an extremely wealthy man. At a particular function this man spoke to Fr. Groeschel, and he said, ‘You know Father, I have more money than I could ever spend, or use and I would really like to be able to put it to good use.’ Fr. Groeschel suggested that he could make a donation to one of the orphanages they run, or something similar. But by the end of the evening, the man had not agreed to part with one cent of his money. He was possessed by his wealth. He knew he had way more than he could use, but he was still unable to part with it. Jesus said, ‘How hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ (Matt 19:23)
In confession I have heard so many heart-breaking stories of families divided over inheritance. It is so sad, because it is not important. Naturally, it is not good when someone in a family is left out of their fair share of what is coming to them, but sooner or later we will leave it all behind anyway. ‘There is no hitch on the hearse,’ as they say! Is it really worth causing such division in a family for this? I suppose it is a sign again that we believe we will find happiness if we have enough of everything materially. Our spirit can never be content with just material things and that is why there is always this deeper longing in us for ‘something,’ although we’re often not quite sure what that something is.
God has made us in such a way that we can only be fulfilled in him. It’s interesting that the third most popular areas of sales in bookstores to do with the spiritual, which is basically the search for God. Everyone is searching, even if we are searching in the wrong place.
A man told me one time that he had worked hard to make as much money as he could for his family and he did. But in the process he alienated himself from his family. Now he had plenty of money, but no family.
Wealth, fame and earthly honors are good and we should use our talents to the best of our ability, but they are not what counts when we come before God for our judgement. We will be judged by how we have lived, how we have loved and how we have honored God.
There is nothing wrong with having wealth and it is a blessing if you have done
Our time here on earth is a time for love and service; to choose for God or not; and this is a choice that each one of us has to make individually. That is why each week we come to listen to the Word of God and to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, so that we remember what our life is about. The key is in making sure that God is at the centre. Otherwise we may forget what we are here for.
‘Fool, this very night the demand will be made for your soul;
and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?’
