“Lord, Lord, open the door for us!”
When does eternal life begin? Eternal Life is the term used by Christ to describe the state of endless happiness enjoyed by the just in heaven. It means not only everlasting duration but also fullness of life, which the believer possesses already here and now through participation in the life of God. [1] Eternal life begins when we participate in the life of God. When do we begin to participate in the life of God? We begin to participation in eternal life at our baptism. It is the door, which Christ Himself opened for us, when His side was opened on the Cross. Will we choose to walk through this door?
Eternal life begins now! We say in the Nicene Creed, “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life”. What kind of life is this Lord, the giver of life, giving? There are only two kinds of life: temporal life and eternal life. Many times we believe that temporal life is while we are on earth and eternal life is the afterlife. Temporal life is temporary; it is our physical life on this earth that has a limit because it ends with death. Eternal life is participation in the life of God, a life that is without limit and everlasting. Eternal life is right here and right now, it is today. We think a lot about our temporal, earthly life, but rarely do we think about the divine life, the eternal life. Thinking about eternal life and thanking God for this divine life within us, we help ourselves experience right now a taste of the glory we will completely partake of in heaven. “Think constantly on eternal life, and on this truth, that they who are the humblest and poorest in spirit, and count themselves the least, shall enjoy the highest glory in God.” [2]
MOVIE - Dead Poets' Society - Carpe Diem! - POP CULTURE CONNECTION – 3:11
“‘You are my son, today I have begotten you.’ The adverb ‘today’ speaks of eternity. It is the ‘today’ of the intimate life of God, the ‘today’ of eternity, the ‘today’ of the Most Holy and ineffable Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who is eternal Love and eternally consubstantial with the Father and the Father and the Son.” [3] The teacher helps the students seize the day and begin living today, by causing them to think of their death. The Church teaches on the four last things, these include death, judgment, heaven and hell. The reality for all of us is that we will die. Death is the separation of our body and soul.
What happens to the body at death? It becomes fertilizer for daises. “Death is certain; life is short and vanishes like smoke. Fix your minds, then, on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [4] We meditate on the passion and death of our Lord as a reminder that even the Word made flesh suffered and died. Who are we then to escape this? Should we fear death? No. We might fear the way we would die or even the pain involved, but death itself should hold no fear over us. Why? We have eternal life and that eternal life begins now. We are with Christ now and we will be with Christ later. “As Christ is life unto me, so I account death a most happy and glorious gain to me.” [5]
Can eternal life end for the individual? Yes. If we cease to participate in the life of God, we cease to share in eternal life. To participate means to share or to take part. We must be willing to share to take part in the life of God. We must make space for God’s embrace. If we choose to not share and take part in the life of God, then we lose the life of God. This loss of the life of God within our soul is called moral sin. Not only do we lose eternal life when we die, but we lose eternal life now. Many times we want the life of God later, in heaven, but don’t care for the life of God now.
Kenny Chesney's Everybody wants to go to Heaven focuses on those who want to live in this world and of this world, but not really embrace eternal life. We cannot have one foot on one side and one foot on the other, God wants all of us not just a part of us. We must choose to take part fully in the life of God if we want to go to Heaven right now.
When we commit a mortal sin, we are no longer in the state of grace. Grace is the “supernatural gift of God bestowed on us, through the merits of Jesus Christ, for our salvation.” [6] Not only does God offer each person a share in His eternal life, but He gives us the means, the abilities (grace), necessary to know how to share in His eternal life. When we commit a mortal sin, we are refusing to use the gifts God gives us. The Gospel speaks of the bridegroom (Christ) and the virgins (us). A couple that is going to share in each other’s life must have a means, a way to share. They must be self-less, humble, loving, patient, understanding, etc. in order to be able to share life. We can only share in the life of God, through Grace, the supernatural gifts or abilities that God freely gives us.
What are some of these abilities or gifts? It would be good to make a list of all the gifts that God gives enabling us to share in His life. This list includes anything that comes from God. We first think of the theological virtues given at Baptism (faith, hope and charity). The Sacraments. Prayer. The Word of God. Divine Revelation. The gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. The Liturgy. The Life of Christ. The Church. The list goes on and on. The greatest gift is Jesus, the Word made flesh. “The Son of God became man so that the sons of men, the sons of Adam, might become sons of God…He is the Son of God by his nature. We are sons of God by grace.” [7]
All of these gifts are not given “naturally” but “supernaturally” and they are given for a reason a purpose. The purpose is to allow us to participate, to share in eternal life. If we don’t use these gifts in order to share in eternal life, then we have misused the gifts. For example, why does a person get confirmed or get married in the Church? Do they do this for human respect, in order to make another person happy or do they use the Sacrament as a means to participate in the Life of God? Why does a person pray or read scripture? Do they do this because they feel obligated or want to learn more or do they pray and read to get to know and love God, so they can better share in His life? We have to keep in mind not only the manifold gifts given but how we are either using or misusing the gifts. Five virgins had lamps and oil, the other five, the foolish five, had just lamps, but no extra oil. The many graces that God offers us would be the oil in this case. If we only are interested in some grace, the oil will run dry and our lamps will go out.
“The ten virgins of the parable were entrusted with a serious responsibility. They were to await the coming of the bridegroom, who was expected at any moment. Five of the virgins took their assignment seriously. They did everything possible to be on guard: The wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. The other five virgins were foolish: They took no oil with them. They became caught up in other concerns and neglected their primary duty of welcoming the bridegroom. We cannot forget that God is our ultimate end. Everything else is of secondary importance, whether it be success, fame, poverty or wealth, health or sickness…These temporal concerns can be beneficial to us – but only if they help us to keep our lamps burning. We need to maintain a good supply of oil, of good works, especially works of charity.” [8]
What are the concerns in our life that cause us to neglect our primary duty of seeking the face of God? We cannot wait. Saint John Bosco’s philosophy was simple. Be a Saint and be a Saint now. “O God, I not only want to be all Yours, I wish to be a saint. And since I do not know whether my life will be long or short, I tell You that I want to be a saint soon.”
Why would we want the life of God later, but maybe not now? Maybe we want the life of God later because we desire a temporary life of our own desiring now. However if we live that way, we know that we will end up in hell and we don’t like that option. Participating in the life of God now, means that we cannot live life only for self, but participate in a life that is not ours alone, but the Life of Christ.
What did Christ’s life consist of? When we look into the Gospels we see that Jesus was meek, humble and obedient. He lived a life of chastity, poverty and obedience. He suffered, died and rose again. We like the rose again part, but the meek, humble, obedient life of chastity and poverty is not so appealing.
[1] Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.; Modern Catholic Dictionary; page 193
[2] Saint John of the Cross
[3] Saint John Paul II, Address, 16 October 1985
[4] Saint Francis of Paola
[5] Saint Philip Howard
[6] Baltimore Catechism 2; Section 103
[7] St. Athanasius, De Incarnatione contra arrianos, 8
[8] Fr. Francis Fernandez; In Conversation with God; Vol. 5; 73:1