Pray for us now and at the hour of our death

‘Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.’ (Matthew 25:13)

Matthew 25:1-13 (Year A: Advent-3)

In the Buddhist tradition one is encouraged by two words: mindfulness and practice.  This also lies the at the core of Jewish-Christian-Islamic life: mindfulness of the great love of God who is ever present and, at the same time, the practice of justice/love/mercy. The two go hand in hand. The genuine quality of our mindfulness is tested by our practice. Our praxis is grounded in mindfulness. Being ready and prepared is about living out of the centre of our lives:

Grounded in the present moment in the here

Relaxed in this moment

Attentive to the Other

Centered in our own bodies and minds

Energised by the current of love that flows through from the ground on which we stand

GRACE!

Living gracefully takes habit and practice.  It is never, ever too late to begin all over again here, now, in this moment and place. To live well means to live each day and each hour as if could be our last. Someday this will actually turn out to be the case.

One night I stood beside my mother when she was dying and prayed for her and for me as follows: ‘Pray for us now and at the hour of our death’. She was too ill to say those words but she had said them many, many times in the course of her long lifetime. I sensed that her hour had come so those words had special meaning.

The secret to a long and good life and a happy one too is to be always ready by being grounded in the here and now enjoying and living fully the present moment of life while being fully attentive to the presence, needs and communication of whoever is next to us.

Perhaps it was my mother who was praying for me that night just as much as I was praying for her.