Keeping the end in sight

There is something truly enlightening about death. At the end of a person's life, he or she is seen in a perspective many did not care to take before. I have seen it with my own relatives and friends...and even with our Pope. There is a greater admiration for virtue, no matter how much their convictions were criticized while they were alive. There is a legacy left behind that inspires others to follow the same path or maybe pave one of their own with a certain "inherited courage" to make a difference in the world.

All of us struggle. All of us fall. All of us suffer. But those who shine like stars in the darkness are the ones who struggle through...who get up from the ground lifted up by the hand of God...who suffer along with Him all the way to the Cross. Pain with purpose is valiant. It is victorious. It is not, by any means, defeat. A defeated soul is someone who cannot find meaning in their suffering and curses Him who could relieve him but does not. I thank God for the models of patience and grace who showed me how to "win" this spiritual battle because it is much too easy for me to "lose".

When I someday utter the words "It is finished", I pray that I will look back and see how important it was that I held on to Him. I want to have lived a life enriched by the Spirit...using His gifts to bring the Gospel to others who don't know what it looks like...who don't know what it sounds like...who don't know what it feels like. I want to give them Jesus because nothing I have is more eternal than Him. Nothing I am can outlast His truth.

If only I can embody His life in my own, then the Gospel will be preached without my having to say anything. But God help me when it comes time to proclaim the Word and teach in love. It has been a few years since I last openly prayed to the Holy Spirit for an outpouring in my own heart. Dear Lord, please reignite the fire in me and grant me the power to witness in action...to use the gifts given to me at my Confirmation 14 years ago...

WISDOM...KNOWLEDGE...PIETY...HOLY FEAR OF THE LORD...COURAGE...UNDERSTANDING...RIGHT JUDGMENT

Let this be my act of love, not just my prayer. I beg of You. Amen.

AMDG + JMJ

"For God chose you from the beginning to be saved through true faith and to be made holy by the Spirit. To this end He called you through the gospel we preach, for He willed you to share the glory of Christ Jesus our Lord.

Because of that, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold to the traditions that we taught you by word or by letter. May Christ Jesus our Lord who has loved us, may God our Father, who in his mercy gives us everlasting comfort and true hope, strengthen you. May He encourage your hearts and make you steadfast in every good work and word." (2 Thes 2:13b-17)