Memento Mori
Funerals, while very painful, have a great ability to remind us of what is most important in life. They also can remind us who the most important people in our lives are. This one is a quick post but it’s important to go over the absolute basics of life every once in while to keep things in priority.
KEEPING THINGS IN ORDER:
God - The entire purpose of your life is to love, know and serve Him in this life so that you can be with Him in the next. Everything else is subordinate to this and if you fail in this goal, your life is ultimately a failure. No amount of wealth, success, power, popularity, family, possessions, or even good deeds means anything if you end up in hell. Love and serve God so you can be with Him for eternity.
Family - As Scripture says, the Christian who fails to care for his family is worse than an unbeliever. We must make time for our family and give them the care, support, love and affection they need and deserve. Lead your family to God and care for them in the same manner that Christ cares for His Church. Love them and forgive sins committed against you. Always remember to pray for them as well.
Friends - Similar to family, but not with the same level of obligation to care for them. Surround yourself with friends who challenge you to be a better and more moral person. Surround yourself with holy people who encourage you to be holy as well.
Neighbors - Who is my neighbor? As Christ says, everyone is your neighbor, even your enemies. Pray for them and when you can, perform acts of charity and good works for them. As always, this does require prudence and discretion, and is also lower in priority to the items above. (You cannot give away your family’s rent money to the poor, for example.)
Country - Part of our obligation under the Commandment to honor our mother and father, we owe fidelity and love to our homeland, within moral limits and in priority below the above items. We are not required to love our government, but we must love our homeland. This includes lower levels of our country, including city and state.
Work - We owe an honest days work for our pay. We owe our work the best of our abilities while we are on the job. But always remember that work is subservient to the higher priorities above. We work so that we can live, but we do not live to work. God set up a day of rest for a reason. Honorable work is good and holy, but it must be aimed at providing a living for us and our family. Work is not the center of our lives.
Recreation - As just mentioned, God Himself set aside time for man to work and time for man to enjoy recreation. He set aside time for us to worship Him and also time for us to spend time with those we love and enjoying the simple things of life. But always be on alert that our recreation does not become an idol or replace our time for worship. Moderation is key.
MEMENTO MORI
Every single day that you wake up, you are one day closer to your death and one day closer to your particular judgment from Christ. Remember mortal man that you are made from dust and to the dust you will return. You will soon stand before the King of kings who will decide your eternal fate. Always keep this in mind. Stay in a state of grace. Go to Confession. Pray your rosary daily with your family. Read the Bible. Go to Mass. Receive the Eucharist. Keep yourself holy. You do not know when the time of your judgment is coming.
SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY
The time your have with your family is precious. Do not waste it. Turn off the electronics so you can spend real time with them. Time passes faster than we realize. Kids grow up in the blink of an eye and are leaving the nest before you know it. Parents get old and pass away. Do not waste the time you have with them when they are here now with you. Here are some ideas for spending time with your family while unplugged.
Play cards and board games with your family. Cards and board games are excellent ways to spend time with your family without electronics. They foster an environment where you are speaking with each other, engaging actively with one another and usually have a fun time all around
Go for a walk with your family. A nightly walk either before or after dinner is an excellent way to spend your evenings. You get away from the electronics, plus you get some low impact exercise and break the cycle of slothfulness that our modern culture fosters.
Get a cheap firepit if you can. Sitting around a fire has a certain ability to bring people together and can foster good conversation and fun frivolity. Plus s’mores!
Give each family member a different night to cook dinner. This is a great way to teach your children how to cook and also how to plan a meal. Plus it allows you to spend time with them doing interactive things that also allow them to accomplish something by making a delicious dinner.
Read as a family. You can either read together if your children or grandchildren are young, or you can read separately as a family but doing so in the same room. Even spending time together like this in the quiet can be quite beneficial. Reading your Bible together is also a great idea.
Complete a project. Kids love to participate with parents in projects together with them. Whether it is building something, or repairing a part of the house, just doing these activities together can be great fun. Some of the home improvement stores have fun craft ideas your can do. One idea is getting a seasonal or holiday wood decoration and painting it together.
Pray together. Praying a family rosary usually takes less than a half hour, but is incredibly beneficial, especially spiritually. The family that prays together, stays together. If your children see that prayer is important to their parents, they will think it is important for them as well.
This post is shorter. It has been a very busy couple of weeks and more posts will be coming shortly. If you could, please pray an Ave or Our Father for the repose of a family member who passed recently. Thank you.
Thank you. Your post comes at a very difficult time in my life. I’ll reread this often in the weeks to come🙏