Philoptochos Spiritual Enrichment Series

The Life to Come
Prayer
Grant me, Lord to see that what I do today
is connected with eternity. For not one cup of cold water given in Your Name
will lose its reward. Amen.		 Vitamin Verse
I came from the Father and have come into the world: again I am leaving the world and going to the Father. (John 16:28)
Inspiration 
A little boy sat quietly by himself on a train speeding through the countryside one dull day. A dear old lady asked him sympathetically, "Aren't you afraid to be on this train alone?" The boy looked up with a smile and said, "no, ma'am, I don't mind it too much, because my father is going to meet me when I get to the end of it."
When we come to the end of the line, our Father will be there to meet us, to take us on into another world where "eye has not seen…what things the Lord has prepared for those who love Him." Thus we can say as Jesus said, " I came from the Father and have come into the world; again I am leaving the world and going to the Father" (John 16:28).

When Henry Thoreau lay on his deathbed, one of his friends spoke to him of the world to come. But Thoreau, shaking his finger in his friend's face, answered, "one world at a time! Please!" This idea of one world at a time has great attraction and seeming logic to it. But the fact remains that life is not that simple.

The present world and the world to come are not two separate entities. The one depends squarely on the other. What we do today has consequences for eternity. As Jesus said, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me" (Matt. 25:41-43).

The Christian lives in two worlds at the same time. What he does today has consequences for tomorrow. So the Christian lives every day with double vision: one eye on this world, one eye on the sick, the hungry, the imprisoned, the oppressed, the suffering, and one eye on eternity. For the two are connected.

If I can say these words of Jesus for myself: " I came from the Father and have come into the world: again I am leaving the world and going to the Father" (John 16:28), if I can say these words, then I need to ask myself another question: "What on earth am I doing today for heaven's sake?" What on earth am I doing today for my Father's sake, Who sent me into this world and to Whom am I returning? What is my mission here if not to do my Father's will? "My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me," said Jesus, "and to accomplish His work" (John 4:34)
From:  The Great I Came's of Jesus, Fr. Anthony M. Coniaris, Light and Life Publishing, 1980
Reflection
How can the "remembrance of death" enrich our present life.
In times of great sorrow, share how the "hope of the Resurrection" has helped you overcome your sense of pain and loss.
The Spiritual Enrichment Series is compiled by Presbytera Christine Salzman.   This page is printer friendly.
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