READY AND PREPARED?

SABBATH

We often hear and see on TV news about catastrophes that suddenly struck and killed many people in a matter of a few seconds. Remember the 45-second earthquake that devastated the capital of Haiti in January 2010? At least 300,000 people perished. We cannot forget September 11, 2000, when almost 3,000 people who worked in or visited the World Trade Center in New York, thinking about nothing but their work and what they would do in the evening at home, when terrorist planes crashed into the Twin Towers and killed them. We still remember the tsunami that killed tens of thousands in the vast area from Indonesia to India. We hear about suicide bombers, bomb attacks, typhoons, floods, plane crashes, sinking of ferries and so on. People died and we wonder how many of them were prepared to appear before God. I remember a song from my childhood years in Germany that was usually sung in church during funeral Masses. Translated, the first line said, “In the midst of our life we are surrounded by death…” The thought of sudden death should not make us morbid, of course. God wants us to enjoy life. But we should also be realistic and include death in our planner, as St. Benedict did. He told his monks to keep death daily before their eyes and walk with death as a friend and not as an enemy. St. Francis called death “sister bodily death.” Weird? Morbid? I don’t think so. Jesus tells us in today’s parable to be alert and always ready for the coming of the Master, because no one knows the day or the hour when we will be called to appear before God. Twelve days from now we will go out to the cemeteries and visit the tombs of our loved ones. Many make merry at the tombs, probably to avoid thinking about death. But our visit to the tombs could become a strong reminder of the shortness of life and the possibility of not being prepared when the Lord calls us. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD   Reflection Question: Am I afraid of death? Am I prepared and ready to face my Lord at the end of my life?   Lord, Your parable is a very timely reminder of maybe the most important moment in my life — my death. Too often, I live as if life would go on forever. May You not find me unprepared but ready to enter eternal joy when my time comes.   St. Charles Garnier, pray for us.