In the Opening Prayer of the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, we pray that “amid the uncertainties of this world, our hearts may be fixed on that place where true gladness is found.” The thought of eternity helps us to achieve that.
St. Alphonsus de Liguori wrote, “St. Augustine used to call the thought of eternity ‘The Great Thought.’ This thought made the Saints count all the treasures and grandeurs of this life as nothing more than straw, mire, smoke, and dung. This thought has driven so many anchorites [hermits] to hide themselves in deserts and caves, and so many noble youths, and even kings and emperors, to shut themselves up in cloisters. This thought has given courage to so many martyrs to endure racks and iron nails and red-hot gridirons and even being burned alive.”
The only business that we should attend to in this life is eternity. St. Eucherius said, “The business for which we work is eternity.” St. Josemaria Escriva wrote, “Examination of conscience. A daily task. Bookkeeping – never neglected by anyone in business. And is there any business worth more than that of eternal life?”
The eternity of the next life is truth of faith, much more certain than the things which we see with the eyes of the body. St. Alphonsus wrote, “St. Teresa used to say that all sins had their origin in an absence of faith. Therefore, in order to overcome our passions and temptations, we must frequently revive our faith by saying: ‘I believe in the life everlasting.’”
St. Josemaria wrote, “Have you seen the dead leaves fall in the sad autumn twilight? So fall souls each day into eternity. One day, the falling leaf will be you.” St. Caesarius exclaimed: “Woe to sinners who enter into an eternity which is to them unknown because they would not reflect upon it!”
St. Alphonsus said, “One thought of lively faith in the eternity that awaits us may make us saints. St. Gregory says that they who meditate on eternity are neither puffed up by prosperity, nor cast down by adversity because, as they desire nothing in the world, so they fear nothing from the world. When it happens to us to suffer any infirmities or persecutions, let us remember the Hell which we have deserved by our sins.”
The thought of eternity reminds us that we are pilgrims on earth. St. Josemaria wrote, “A bad night in a bad inn. That’s how Saint Teresa of Jesus is said to have described this earthly life. It’s a good comparison, isn’t it?”
St. Alphonsus wrote, “He that runs in a race, says St. John Chrysostom, pays no heed to the spectators, but only to the crown of victory; he stops not, but the nearer he approaches the goal, the quicker he runs. Therefore, the Saint concludes that the longer we have lived, the more we should hasten by good works to secure the prize, so that our only prayer for relief in the troubles and trials which we endure in this life ought to be this: ‘Thy kingdom come.’”
St. Augustine said that he who has God has everything, and he who has not God has nothing. St. Alphonsus exclaims: “Oh the folly of worldlings! One single tear shed through sorrow for our sins gives more consolation, one aspiration, ‘My God!’ uttered with love by a soul in the state of grace, is worth more than a thousand festivals, a thousand plays, a thousand banquets, in giving contentment to a heart that loves the world.” St. Josemaria said, “The things of this earth are continually passing away: hardly has pleasure begun when it is already ended.”
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慮及永恆的思想固定我們心內真福
在二十一主日彌撒的集禱經，我們祈求：『在這變幻的塵世，使我們仍能一心嚮往真福的所在。』慮及永恆的思想幫助我們得獲它。
聖亞豐索寫道：『聖奧斯定稱這永恆的思想為「偉大的思想。」這思想讓這位聖人把這生命的寶藏和煇煌視作禾草，泥濘和糞便。這思想驅使了很多隱修士隱居於沙漠和洞穴中，和很多高貴的青年，甚至帝王和君主自閉於修道院內。這思想為很多的殉道者賦與勇氣去忍受肉體的折磨和鐵釘，火紅的烤鐵甚至活活燒死。』
我們生命中唯一的事業是永恆。聖歐千流說：『我們工作的事業是永恆。』聖若瑟瑪利亞、施禮華寫道：『良心的省察。一件每天的工作。簿記—業務中沒有人可以忽略的。業務中可能有任何一作比永恆生命更有價值呢？』
來世的永恆生命是信仰的真理，這比我們肉眼所見的事物更為真確。聖亞豐索寫道：『聖女德蘭常說所有的罪惡，都是根源於缺乏信仰。所以要能克服我們的情慾和誘惑，我們應該經常重新我們的信仰說：「我信永恆的生命」』聖若瑟瑪利亞、施禮華寫道：『你可曾見過愁秋薄暮時，淍葉的墜落？同樣失落的靈魂也每天失落於永恆中。有一天這片落葉將會是你。』聖凱撒略宣稱：『災難歸於進入永恆的罪人們，因為他們不知道永恆是什麼，他們也不願想及它！』One thought of lively faith in the eternity that awaits us may make us saints.
聖亞豐索說：『一個以活躍信德有關等待我們的永恆的思想，可以使我們成為聖人。聖額我略說，那些默想永恆生命的不會自肥於繁榮也不會困惑於貧乏，因為在世上他們不期望什麼，所以在世上也不害怕什麼。當病弱，迫害發生時，讓我們記得地獄，那裡是我們因罪惡而應得的。』
永恆的思想提醒我們，我們是在世上的朝聖者。聖若瑟瑪利亞寫道：『在一間劣質的旅館，糟糕的一晚。這是聖女德蘭對現世生命的描述。這是個要好的比較吧，對嗎？』
聖亞豐索寫道：『金口若望說，參加賽跑的人，不會注意觀眾，但只注意勝利的冠冕；他不會停下來，他越是接近目標，他跑得越快。所以，這位聖人總結說，我們活得越久，我們要多趕急為善，去穩固我們的獎章，所以在困擾於這生命中的我們，為減輕煩惱和考驗的唯一禱文是：「願袮的國來臨。」』
聖奧斯定說，誰有了天主，便有了一切，誰失去天主，便失去一切。聖亞豐索宣稱：『噢愚蠢的世途！為懺悔罪過的一滴眼淚給予更多的慰藉，在寵愛中以愛呼叫「我的天主」比千個節慶，千個表演，千個宴會給深愛著世界的心更多的滿足。』聖若瑟瑪利亞說：『這世界的一切都不停地消逝：當它已消逝後，那再沒有喜樂了。』
