As long as our life may seem, compared to eternity, it’s not even the blink of an eye. What do we spend our time on?
Newsroom (7/03/2024 09:27, Gaudium Press) “Observe this man, spending his entire day and night at a gambling stall—Isn’t this a squandering of time? Inquiring about his occupation, he readily acknowledges, ‘It’s to pass the time,’ will be his response. Consider that other loiterer, devoting endless hours in the street observing passers-by or engaging in inappropriate or purposeless activities; ask him the same, and he won’t hesitate to reply, ‘It’s to kill time.’ What a pity for those blinded individuals who waste numerous precious days that will never return!
When death approaches, nothing can be rectified; what’s done is done. My God, if a person suddenly learned that his life and fortune would be entangled in a lawsuit in a few days, how urgently he would seek a skilled lawyer to present his case before the judges and endeavour to secure a favourable verdict! And what are we doing? We are well aware that the most crucial of our affairs, that of our eternity, will soon face judgment, and we fritter away time!
What an astounding situation! Irrespective of how prolonged our life might be, the devil regards it as so brief that he does not let a moment pass without tempting us: ‘The devil has raged against you because he knows that he has little time left’ (Rev 12:12).
Venerable Mother Joan of the Most Holy Trinity, a Discalced Carmelite, used to express: ‘The word tomorrow is unknown in the language of the saints; it belongs to the language of sinners; they always have these words in their mouths: “Later, later.”‘
This is what they declare, and this is how they postpone their conversion until death: the opportune time is now (2 Cor 6:2): ‘If today you hear the voice of the Lord, do not harden your hearts.’
Taken from: AFONSO DE LIGORIO. Eternal maxims. São Paulo: Cultor de livros, 2016, p. 109″
Compiled by Carlos Ruiz
