THE Boy Scouts have a very wise motto that we could all very well imitate—“Laging Handa.” They are supposed to be prepared for any possible emergency, whether it be saving a drowning child or helping an old lady cross the street.
In the gospel today, Jesus Christ proposes to us a similar motto, but He applies it to even more serious and crucial matters. “You must be ready, because at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man is coming” (Luke 12:40).
When people are really interested in succeeding in a task, they prepare well for it. A surgeon at the operating table has prepared himself long before the actual operation. As he operates, he is ready for any emergency. After all, a human life is at stake.
In the gospel today, Christ tells us to be always ready; but what is at stake is something much more important and valuable than our human life. What is at stake is our eternal salvation and happiness.
How can one be prepared in this matter? At the moment of death, the state of our soul will remain basically what it is for the rest of eternity.
If we are in the state of grace, that is to say, we are in the friendship of God and we have renounced sin, which separates us from God, then we are ready to face the eternal judgment of God.
But if we are in the state of sin, which separates us from God, if we not have been reconciled to God by the sincere contrition and confession of our sins, then we have much to dread at the moment of death.
Now death is a certainty that we will have to face. But although death is a certainty, the moment and the manner of death is something we can never be sure of.
Therefore, it would be foolish to take the attitude of a man who deliberately delays being ready to face death. If we know that we are not in the grace of God right now, let us not postpone our reconciliation with God to an indefinite future by postponing to receive the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.
There is a story of a man who was leading a very immoral life, and his friend was trying to convince him to change for the better.
The man agreed that he was doing wrong, but wanted to postpone his conversion and, so to speak, be able to get the best of both worlds. He told the friend that, when he would be very old or sick, then he would call for a priest or, at least, piously invoke the holy name of Jesus and, thus, be saved.
A few days later, the friend heard that the immoral man had died. Did he call for a priest? Did he at least invoke the mercy of God in his last moments?
After careful inquiry, the friend ascertained the circumstances of the immoral man’s death. While crossing a bridge, his horse suddenly bucked and jumped into the gushing river.
What were his last words? Did he repent? Unfortunately, the last words heard from him as he was carried by the water, were curse for the stupid horse.