The Final Hour 

   “Never will we understand the value of time better than when our last hour is at hand.” (Saint Arnold Janssen) 

   Imagine lying in a hospital bed knowing full well that you will never leave that bed.  Life is at an end and the final hours, minutes, and seconds are ticking away.  Are you ready to walk through that door to eternal life?  If not, what choices are left to you?

   In his rule for monks St. Benedict encourages them to consider their mortality every day.  This life is temporary, it is a waystation of sorts on the journey to eternal life.  What awaits us in the next life is entirely up to us.  We will choose where we spend forever by the way we have spent this mortal life that will soon come to an end.

   It doesn’t matter if we are young or old, death knows no age, only circumstance.  An accident, an aneurism, or many other things can take this life in an instant.  Perhaps there might be a second to turn to God in repentance and perhaps not.  Can we afford to take that chance?  Many live their life never considering what comes next.

   The thief on the cross said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’  Jesus said to him, ‘Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’” (Luke 23: 42 – 43).  Will we have time to turn to Christ in our last minutes in the same way?  Some will, many may not.

   In my mind refusing to acknowledge my mortality and doing all I can to properly prepare my soul for that certainty would be an act of pure madness.  Not only would I be risking my eternal soul, but I would be refusing all the many blessings God wishes to give me throughout this life.  Insanity indeed!