The modern culture vehemently encourages the modern man to avoid thinking about the last important four things (death, judgment, heaven, hell) and the great truths of life. But the instinct to see beyond the veil of death and time haunts us now more than ever. In the moments of Jesus' concentrated agony on the cross he prayed "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." The liturgy today focuses on what the end will look like. The world will come to an end someday. The Catholic catechism reminds us that "at the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love".

In the entertainment industry, every artist works hard in his or her performance while on the stage to earn a standing ovation from the audience. Sometimes the artist is satisfied with his/her performance but the audience is not. As Christians every little effort made is automatically appreciated by God. God has chosen many of us to help spread the Good News so that all may come to the knowledge of the truth and ponder on the consequences of the lives we live. As human beings we are made of flesh and blood and have feeble minds. We always fathom the idea of creating our world and our illusionary heaven. Eternal truths are unchangeable! Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell are real and irrevocable. Even though the modern world denies the fact of sin, we must be aware that the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross was the manifestation of sin at its worse so that humanity might realize the horror of sin and turn away from it. The difficulties predicted by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke 21: 5-19 have always formed an intricate part of the Christian faith and our time is of no exception. Being mindful of the coming judgement actually cuts down our fears and anxieties about our final destiny because we know where we stand with Jesus. Let us make the conscious resolve to work on our weaknesses by asking ourselves: where does the chink in my spiritual armor lie? Let us keep doing this while we embrace the burdens we encounter every blessed day.

Fr. Sam Madza, SMA