Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. -John 12:25 (NRSVCE)
We all have goals in life: falling in love, owning that car or house we’ve saved up for, retiring early, taking that dream vacation. But while many of us have very clear pictures of what are goals are during life, we often forget the goal of life.
Even us Catholics, who know our mission is to become a saint, are often distracted by the things of this world. Death seems far away, and we push those thoughts until later. We’ll worry about that later and focus on this life now.
But the problem is, this life isn’t a vacation. It’s a journey. We’re traveling somewhere. And if we don’t keep our destination in mind, we’ll lose our way. We come from God, and we are returning to God. Nothing in this life can satisfy us. We should thirst for heaven—thirst for God—and let that thirst define all our actions.
If we let our longing for God and eternity with Him determine how we live our lives, then we’ll see things in right perspective. We’ll remember the two greatest commandments—to love God and love our neighbor. The true purpose of life, to save our soul and the souls of as many others as possible, will become clear. Not just physical life, but eternity is at stake.
We have to remember we’re on our way to the house of our loving Father and let our love and longing for Him motivate all our steps along this journey.
After all, we’re on the road home.
© Isabelle Wood 2024
Photo copyright Canva
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