The End* is Near!
*of the Liturgical Year
A blessed Christ the King Sunday to you all! We are coming to the end of the Liturgical Year as we enter into the final week of Ordinary Time and we’ll soon begin the Advent season – the beginning of a new year!
How has this year been? What kind of challenges and blessings have come up throughout it? How has God helped you to grow? What kinds of goals do you feel like God is inviting you to make for this coming year? Where have you been, where are you now, and where would you like to be?
So often in the spiritual life, we receive powerful inspirations from God during the toughest moments. The Gospel this Sunday records for us the salvation of Saint Dismas, the Repentant Thief. Hanging in agony, dying the death of a criminal, he turns to the Lord and says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus responds, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Dismas only asks not to be forgotten by the Lord, and the Lord does him one better: He canonizes the first saint for all to see! The end was near for the Good Thief, and Jesus was not going to give up on him. Even a life poorly led and ending in pain and disaster can have hope for Heaven. Dismas had nothing to give to Jesus but himself, but he still gave it a shot. And God was ready to meet him.
How is God inviting you today? How is He leading you to conclude this Liturgical Year? Is there something that you can resolve to offer Him as we approach Advent? It’s not too late to finish strong. Saint Dismas shows us that we don’t need to come to Him with big, expensive gifts. The perfect gift to Him is you.
Here’s a challenge: try to finish this year empty-handed. God is never outdone in generosity. We give Him a little, and He returns a lot. Either we can withhold our gifts and end with the same things we started with (which, if you ask me, is pretty boring), or we can give, receive, give again, and receive again. God wants to give us so many good things, but we need to keep our hands free in order to receive them.
-Br. Andrew
