Lesson from Fr. Paulus | Life on Earth Is the Path, not the Goal

My dear brothers and sisters, the passage we just heard is only part of a long conversation that St Matthew records in Chapters 24 and 25 of his Gospel. Up until this point in the conversation, Jesus has been explaining what the age of the Church, the period of history between his resurrection and his second coming will look like.

He has explained to his Apostles that the age of the Church will be marked by both wonderful growth and also painful persecution. He has explained that Jerusalem, the epicenter of the Old Covenant, will be destroyed to make a definitive way for the New Covenant.

He has explained that the world itself will eventually be destroyed to make way for the new heavens and the new earth. And then, by referring to the example of Noah, he explains that although these things definitely will happen, the Apostles can't know when: "you do not know on which day your Lord will come."

Jesus spoke about what he knew - his explanations were not mere theories. And when the Apostles heard him, they recognized the ring of truth in his voice. Why is Jesus telling them these things? Why does the Church remind us about them every year as Advent begins?

God wants us to know that our time is limited, that our lives and history itself will come to an end. He wants us to know this, because he wants us to use our limited time wisely, living as true Christians. Jesus considers this lesson to be so important that he dedicates four separate parables to it before he finishes the conversation, driving the lesson home.

Jesus knew how easily even the most faithful disciple can fall into the trap of thinking that this earthly life is the goal, and not merely the path.

Story | The Candle's Example*

Once upon a time a little candle stood in a room filled with other candles, most of them much larger and much more beautiful than she was. Some were ornate and some were rather simple, like herself.

Some were white, some were blue, some were pink, some were green. She had no idea why she was there, and the other candles made her feel rather small and insignificant.

When the sun went down and the room began to get dark, she noticed a large man walking toward her with a ball of fire on a stick. She suddenly realized that the man was going to set her on fire.

"No, no!" she cried, "Aaaaagghhh! Don't burn me, please!"

But she knew that she could not be heard and prepared for the pain that would surely follow. To her surprise, the room filled with light.

She wondered where it came from since the man had extinguished his fire stick. To her delight, she realized that the light came from herself. Then the man struck another fire stick and, one by one, lit the other candles in the room. Each one gave out the same light that she did.

During the next few hours, she noticed that, slowly, her wax began to flow. She became aware that she would soon die. With this realization came a sense of why she had been created. "Perhaps my purpose on earth is to give out light until I die," she mused. And that's exactly what she did.

Every Christmas light we see during Advent is a reminder that life on earth is the path, it is a task, a mission - it is not the goal.

Inviting Someone into the Ark

We know this. We believe in Christ, and we are constantly being reminded of this all-important truth that life on earth is only the path, not the goal.

This is why we are able to find: strength in the midst of life's difficulties, hope in the midst of life's inevitable tragedies, and courage in the midst of temptation and failure.

Today we should thank God for the great gift of this knowledge, this certainty that our lives and history itself both have a goal, an endpoint - they are going somewhere.

Without this knowledge, we would have to invent our own meaning and block out the burning question of life's purpose. We would be like children playing make-believe in a sandbox - distracting ourselves from distractions with distractions, as the poet T.S. Eliot put it.

We should be grateful, but we should also be helpful. There are people in our lives - friends, colleagues, neighbours, maybe even family members - who have never had this knowledge, or who have lost it. And because of that, they are living with a deep sense of frustration.

It may be hidden, but it is there. It is no coincidence that more suicides happen during the Christmas season than in any other period of the year. During the Christmas season there is so much hope in the air, that those who have no hope find their frustration turning into despair.

This Advent, let's share the Good News of Jesus Christ with someone who needs to hear it. Let's help someone - even just one person - arrive at Christmas this year not just distracted from their troubles, but filled with meaning for their life.

Let's invite someone into the Ark, not Noah's Ark, which perished, but the Ark of the Church, which Christ has guaranteed will make it safely through the floods of time and into the eternal harbour of heaven.

[* This illustration has been slightly adapted from "Hot Illustrations", copyright Youth Specialities, Inc., 2001]