Stay Focused
By Mike Lambrecht
Many people hear of bad events happening in today’s
world and wonder how our all loving God can allow them to happen. In today’s
Gospel, we hear the message of Jesus on this subject. He reminds us that bad
things do not happen to individuals because they are guiltier than others. “Do
you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater
sinners than all other Galileans? By no means!”1 Rather, Jesus tells us that we must repent or
we will all perish as they did. But what does Jesus mean by these words? We know
that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”2
Because of our sin, we are all deserving of much worse than temporal
punishment. Because of just one sin, one offense against our all-loving God, we
all deserve eternal punishment. Saint Josemaria Escriva once wrote, “When you
meet with suffering, the cross, your thought should be: what is this compared
with what I deserve?”3 God loves us very much. In fact, He loves us so much that “while we were
yet sinners Christ died for us.”4 Christ came to pay the price for our
disobedience. Jesus himself tells us, “I came that they may have life, and
have it abundantly.”5
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is reminding us
not to focus on the trials of this earth. We know our mission. “The desire for
God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God;
and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth
and happiness he never stops searching for.”6 We have the desire to come to know, love and
serve God. Life on this earth is a trial. All of us are guaranteed eternal life.
We all have an immortal soul. The big question, the one in which we are put on
this earth to answer, is whether we will spend eternity with God, or separated
from Him.
Lent is the perfect time for change in our
lives. Scripture tells us, “Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is
the day of salvation.”7 It is very easy to get caught up in the
distractions of life. In the hustle and bustle of our lives, prayer often gets
pushed to the back of our priorities. After all, we have careers, spouses,
children, hobbies, and a thousand other things all vying for control in our lives. But how much time
do we make for our Lord? How much time do we set aside each day to give back to
our God who has given us everything? These are tough questions. It is easy to
get distracted. It is easy to get caught up in the moment of our lives. In his
parable of the fig tree, Jesus is reminding us of our priorities. He reminds us
that God is patient with us. However, our time will come. We do not know if our
time will be up today, tomorrow, or fifty years from now. What we do know is
that eventually, we will all be called to judgment. Jesus is reminding us to
stay focused on what is truly important Ask yourself, “If this is my last day
on earth, is this truly what I want to be doing?” For, if we live each day
uprightly as if it were our last, we have nothing to fear in judgment.
1
Luke 13:2-3
2 Romans 3:23
3 Escriva, Josemaria. The
Way, 690.
4
Romans 5:8
5 John 10:10
6 CCC 27
7 2 Corinthians 6:2