Travel light

The story is told about a priest who patiently waited at a gasoline station to have his car filled with gas. When his turn came, the gas station attendant said: “Sorry, Father, it seems that everyone waits until the last two minutes to get ready for a long trip.” The priest replied: “I know what you mean. It is the same in my business.”

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In today’s Gospel (Lk. 16, 1-13), Jesus reminds us that we all must be ready to face our God to whom we will make a final accounting on how we spent our lives. Let is not wait for the “last two minutes” before we put our lives and responsibilities in order. The bottom line question is: did you serve God, or did you make money your god when you were still alive?

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Remember the story about a man who saw one dollar on the road? Lucky man! But after that, the man ended up walking with his eyes continuously looking for another dollar on the ground. He did not look at nature around him, nor at people’s faces, and hardly even looked at his family and friends anymore. Worse, he did not even have time to look up to God, because he kept on looking for that one more dollar he might see on the ground. Sounds familiar? Make sure that you do not end up so earth-sighted and wealth-sighted, that you forget to be God-sighted and good-sighted.

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They say that at the gate of heaven, we will all have to pass through the final immigration where our papers will be checked. What will matter then will not be our titles, our color, our religion, nor the affiliations attached to our names, but the love in our hearts, and the goodness in our hands.

Did we live life as a servant of God, and a good and honest steward of His blessings?

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The other gate we have to go through in heaven is the final customs where our luggage will be checked, and we will be made to explain if we are carrying dirty and unshared money. Wealth earned with dishonesty, or with violence will be used against us; likewise, money that was amassed and not used for the good of others. Our dishonesty and selfishness will be our greatest liability when we finally meet God someday.

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TRAVEL ADVISORY: Travel light, and keep going to the light in this world, and you will meet the Light Himself. Travel heavy, and keep going to the dark, and you will meet the prince of darkness at the end of your life.

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I remember an incident when we were at the Batanes airport waiting for our flight to Manila. We were told that all checked-in luggage had to be off-loaded because of weight consideration. It was a choice between bringing our luggage, or not making it to our destination. We, too, are to make a choice: We hold on to our worldly attachments and wealth, or not make it to heaven. It’s your call. It’s your choice.

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Sharing with you a text message that was passed on to me: “No point in using limited life to chase unlimited money; no point in earning so much money for which you cannot live long enough to spend; no point in using your health to gain wealth, and using your wealth to regain health; no point in working so hard to provide for people with whom you have no time to spend; happiness is not in having much, but in having little needs.”

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At the end of our lives, may we have no regrets that we loved God and people too little, too late, just because we loved ourselves too much.

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A moment with our Lord:Lord, help us to travel light as we journey through life. Amen.

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