Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy.(Luke. 21:34)

Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy.(Luke. 21:34)
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Every material thing that has a beginning has an end.

But our soul,  which is a spirit,  has no end though it has a beginning.

The world we live in had a beginning.

Every human being has a beginning in this temporary world.

The world will end one day, just as our life in this world.

God alone knows the exact time.

Jesus gives some clues as to the end of times.

"Then he told them, Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;

11 there will be great earthquakes in this region or that,

and plagues and famines; and sights of terror and great portents from heaven."

"when the Son of Man comes,

it will be like the lightning that springs up from the east and flashes across to the west. 

28 It is where the body lies there the eagles will gather"

"Immediately after the distress of those days,

the sun will be darkened, and

the moon will refuse her light, and the stars will fall from heaven,

and the powers of heaven will rock;[4] 30 

and then the sign of the Son of Man will be seen in heaven;

then it is that all the tribes of the land will mourn,[5]

and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven, with great power and glory

;31 and he will send out his angels with a loud blast of the trumpet,

to gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other"

."But as for that day and that hour you speak of,

they are known to none,

not even to the angels in heaven,

only the Father knows."

We don't know the exact time,  so we have to be always ready.

Usually the timetable for the final exam is announced many months earlier.

Some students prepare for a long time

and get very good marks in the exam.

Some students prepare for a month and get good marks.

Some students prepare  just  for a week and get just pass mark.

Some students wait till the last moment to revise the lessons and allow success to escape.

The same thing may occur in our spiritual life too if our last date is  predicted to us.

Once I asked a boy of my age,  about sixty years back,

"Why are you so sluggish in your spiritual life, he replied, '

'My father was ninety when he died. I have still seventy years to live. Last two years enough to win over heaven. "

But, poor fellow, he met with his end  at twenty two, unexpectedly.

"You too must stand ready; the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him." (Matthew, 24:44)

Have you ever noticed a Railway platform, where people are waiting for a train?

The moment it is announced, "The Trivandrm Express bound for Chennai is arriving at platform No.2." the whole platform will become alive and active with people  getting ready for boarding the train with their luggages.

But if it is announced that the train will arrive late by two hours, what will the people do?

They will fall back into drowsiness!

The same thing happens in our spiritual life too.

Suppose an Angel appears and tells us that we have hundred years more to live,

we may also fall back into drowsiness.

We may begin to think, "Why should we spend so long a time in prayer and penance? Why not enjoy our life leaving only the last two years for pious spiritual life? "

We must remember a few things.

1.Any amount of time we may be blessed with in this world is nothing when compared with eternity.

2.The reward we are to enjoy  in heaven for all eternity is to be earned in this world which is temporary. .

3. The greatness or smallness of the reward depends on the quality of our life, not on its quantity.

It is the 'how', not 'how long' of our life that decides our eternal reward.

4. If our love for God and our neighbour is intense. 

if the intention of our good works is the glory of God,

if our Faith in God is  deep,

if our heart is pure

our spiritual life will be smart, lively and active,

otherwise it will be drowsy,  passive, inactive and sleepy.

5. With a drowsy soul we cannot earn any reward for heaven, because it cannot have any interest in spiritual life.

So Our Lord advises us not to let our hearts grow dull with

revelry,

and the affairs of this life.

If we take more interest in the affairs of the world,  our soul will become sleepy to the affairs of the next world.

6.All the souls,

irrespective of their varying degrees of holiness ,

will enjoy perfect happiness.

Our Lady,

who dedicated her whole life for the service of our Lord,

enjoys perfect happiness.  

But so does the good thief who 'stole off' heaven in just a few seconds,

due to the words of Our Lord,

"I promise thee, this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise."

Our Lady's whole life was a prayer,

whereas,

the good thief's prayer was just one sentence,

"Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom."

Are both equal in holiness?

Take a few cups of different sizes.

Fill all the cups with water to the brim.

The capacity of each is different. 

But all the cups are full.

The smallest cup cannot equal the biggest one in capacity.

But in their fullness both are equal.

Just fill a big container with coffee.

Tell the people around there,

"Each one take a cup of coffee, not more."

Each one takes a cup of coffee,

but one boy drinks more coffee than the others.

How?

His cup is the biggest of all the cups.

Now coming to the point,

Our hearts are cups into which God will pour everlasting happiness in heaven.

To get more happiness than others, we should  enlarge our hearts.

Larger our hearts, more the happiness they will be filled with.

Our only work in this world is

to go on enlarging our hearts,

using the time given to us.

Our life may be short or long,

we should not waste a single second in any other work.

How can we make our hearts larger?

By our love and service.

The more we love, the larger will our hearts become.

The more good works we do, the larger will our hearts become.

The more we pray, the larger will our hearts become.

The more we do penance, the larger will our hearts become.

The less we think of this world, the larger will our hearts become.

The more we live in the presence of God, the larger will our hearts become.

The more we help others, the larger will our hearts  become.

The more we glorify God, the larger will our hearts  become.

Instead of wasting a single second in the enjoyment of this world,

let us enlarge our hearts

by love and service

for God and our neighbours.

Lourdu Selvam.