This year has been a crazy year so far. It seems like everything has been cancelled. Some people are afraid to go places, and those that are not worried have a hard time finding somewhere to go that is open. Even churches were closed for awhile leaving people feeling isolated and empty. Many people think that the end times are right around the corner.
Whether or not the end times are coming soon, our own life will most likely end sooner. How do we feel about our soul if we were to die tomorrow? Most people save money for their kids education, for rainy days, and for their own retirement. We also get all kinds of insurance in case something bad happens. How are we preparing our soul for eternal life?
The first thing we should do is to rearrange our priorities and put becoming a saint at the top of the list. Money, power, prestige, and even friendships and family should be below that top goal to become a saint. While most of us won’t become a named saint recognized by the church, anyone who makes it to heaven is a saint. Anyone can be a saint, no matter what you did in the past. Take the New Orleans Saints football team as an example. Through most of their existence, they were so bad that fans put paper bags on their heads and called them the “Aints”. Several good players joined the team and they ended up winning the championship. Sometimes it takes making just a few changes to turn our life around for the better.
The second thing we should do is to always practice and stay in good spiritual shape. There are so many spiritual exercises we can do such as going to the sacrament of reconciliation or adoration of the blessed sacrament. We can pray the rosary or devote time to God each day in personal prayer. The church closure made me want to attend Mass more when it reopened. I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder. Now I try to attend Mass on a daily basis when I can and just that change has made me a lot more spiritually happy. If you contacted a friend everyday, you would expect to grow closer to them. Let’s do the same with God.
Lastly, try learn more about your faith and God. There are so many great videos about the Catholic faith on YouTube. Formed.org is another good source of spiritual audio and video programs. I love to read the books put out by Scott Hahn, and watch the videos put out by Fr. Mike Schmitz and Bishop Barron. Find good topics you are interested in and search for that. I notice when I find one good video on YouTube, I will discover another good video that YouTube recommends.
So to sum it up, we should put sainthood at the top of our priority list, stay in spiritual shape, and work at learning more about our faith. If we can do these things, we won’t need to worry about when our end will come. We will be ready.
