Don't Waste This Life: St. Alphonsus’ Call To Action (Ken & Janelle)

Welcome back! We are now in the second week of Advent, and today, we dive into St. Alphonsus’ daily reflections. As we prepare for Christ’s coming, we reflect on the fleeting nature of life and the eternal consequences of our choices. St. Alphonsus challenges us to remember our last end, reminding us that life is like a shadow or a dream—impermanent but with eternal significance.

Transcript

Welcome back it's great to have you we are on the second week of Advent and today is Monday and we are going to continue examining St Alphonsus' daily sermons today is going to be a good day we'll get right into it St Alphonsus says for said they what does it profit us to possess the whole world and all the goods of this world in this present life which must soon finish and then be damned and be miserable in the Life to Come which will never end they lament now and say all those things are passed away like a shadow for them all is passed like a shadow like a dream and that lamentation which is their lot has lasted already many years and will last throughout all eternity so a question for you you and you um have you ever kind of looked back at our stage of life and thought that's like a dream oh that when we used to live like yeah when we used to live a certain way or you know as life goes on you get to a point and you look back and it's like you can't relate sometimes with the past because the life that you're living right now is so completely different it's like a dream can you think of a time oh yeah for sure like when I was single and now we're about to have eight kids it's very different and I think the of for me the period of time particularly between my 20s into my 30s about 10 year span where I poured my whole life into evangelization and starting a evangelization Ministry that became multifaceted for 10 years that's all I thought about that's all I did all my relationships that I had were directly involved with that Ministry that I started I really didn't have any friends outside of that that effort of evangelization and I look back at that and I I don't regret that I think it was incredibly a beautiful time of life but something that I completely can't relate with right now because we're married right expecting eight children and I look back at that period of life and I think that's like a dream MH a flash a shadow it's like did that actually happen did that actually happen and I think we will have a point in our life in our existence where we will look back at our Earthly life with a more acute understanding and it was like that was like a dream it was like just a shadow yet what we do with this Shadow what we do with this dream has Eternal consequences it makes the difference between Heaven and Hell yet we will look back at this Earthly life as though it was just a little dream so friends Make It Count St Alphonsus says remember remember thy last end and thou shalt never sin so when I read that I was thinking of a conversation that I recently had with my mom and she was sharing this experience uh with somebody that we know where um this young person was questioning you know the necessity of having to attend Sunday mass and he had spoken to a priest and and he asked the priest he said you know could I go to hell if I miss going to Sunday mass and the priest kind of said you know like if you consciously choose to not attend Sunday mass that could be considered a mortal sin um and so for him now this young man is like he's determined to make it to Sunday mass and my mom and I were talking about it because I thought you know even though um this this young man he's doing it because he's afraid to lose his salvation that's a really great starting point to be obedient to God's you know precepts like the precepts of the church which one of them is to attend sunay Sunday mass um because out of fear of losing Heaven eventually hopefully the goal is to get to a point where we do it because we don't want to offend God and because we love him um but anyhow I just that's when when I read that quote about you know remember thy end and you will not sin and I thought that was really can I add to that yeah sure okay so it is true I think sometimes that when you think about your end you could be motivated by a fear response which is not necessarily A Bad Thing a great starting point but I think it also can when you remember year ended it also can motivate you to love because like I want to make my life count I want to love to the best because I know at the end I won't have any more choices to grow in loveh I think about marriage till death we part until we get to that point I want to make this count I want to give everything well thank you like you know think about H the end of life one of us is going to die the other and so you're not going to be thinking at the end there like it won't it won't be a fear-based response it'll be like more like could have I have loved more and I want to love I don't want to get to the end and think I I short changed you and I think more so with God we don't want to get to the end of our Liv and think I sure changed him and so then we remember thy end so that we can be extremely generous now mhm St Alphonsus says this world is a scene which lasts but a short time happy he who plays in this scene that part which will afterwards make him happy in the Life which will never end St alas is making reference to life as though it's a scene life is though uh we stand on Center Stage it's lights camera action we're rolling live and all Heaven is our audience the angels are assistant and God the master director so do you know the story and do you know your lines and your part because when we stand on that stage of life we can be on there for two different audiences one it could be the audience of the world the people who sit in those seats and so what we do is we try and appease them or we can be on that stage for the audience of God which one matters when that final curtain closes and we meet our creator face to face so we stand on that stage and what is our part well our part is to show forth the glory of God not the glory of self and so on that stage on in this life we show forth the glory of God and when that final curtain closes I think if we have done that we can say with St Alphonsus we have played that part well which will make our life happy in the next let us pray oh my God how have I ever never deserve this great Mercy that having left so many others to live in the midst of the world thou Hast willed to call me who have offended thee more than others and deserve more than they to be deprived of thy Divine Light to enjoy the honor of living as a friend of thy own house oh Lord grant that I may understand this exceeding Grace which thou Hast bestowed on me that I may always thank thee for it as I purpose and hope to do always during my life and throughout eternity and do not permit me to be ungrateful for it since thou Hast been so liberal towards me and Hast in thy love preferred me to others it is but just that more than others I should serve and love thee amen