What is the Point of a Life Without God?
2nd Sunday of Lent
“The Lord is my light and my salvation.”Ps. 27
The main purpose of life is to reach eternal life, and this is what Christ came to give us or to make accessible through His incarnation, death, and resurrection, along with all His teachings and miracles, which clearly showed that He is true God and true man. To reject Him is to reject God Himself (Luke 10:16).
What would be the point of merely surviving if everything ended in the grave? What good would it be to enjoy a few days on a cruise ship if it’s headed toward a waterfall leading to death? If everything becomes just a fleeting yesterday that fades away, what was the purpose?
Imagine yourself a few years ahead, on your deathbed on the last day of your life. What would you wish you had done with your life at that moment? What kind of person would you wish you had been? What deeds would you have liked to accomplish? What legacy would you want to leave behind? What place would you wish you had given to God? Right now, you have the chance to make that happen.
God came to show us the path to life, the one that can restore the lost paradise. In Christ, God offers us the opportunity to undo Adam and Eve’s rupture and disobedience with all its grave consequences and to regain the harmony God intended to have with us from the beginning, for complete happiness. It is in our hands to accept or reject this; to choose whether we want a covenant of love with God or prefer to make gods of ourselves, as the fallen angels did, and end up on their side, leading to eternal perdition.
According to Jesus’ teachings-which we cannot distrust-trusting in Him is more serious than life or death because it concerns eternal life or eternal condemnation. The devil blinds us, preventing us from seeing beyond the grave. He wants us to be trapped in the here and now, without considering what comes after this brief journey on earth. But the truth is inescapable —we do not determine it; it simply is, and we are called to seek, know, and live it because it concerns life or condemnation.
God loves us so much that He took on our condition as exiles from paradise-our frail, sinful flesh. He endured slander, humiliation, torture, and death to show us the path to life that leads to the Father. Yet, despite this, many, in human stubbornness, chose to ignore, reject, and not receive the gift of life and eternal salvation He came to offer. By rejecting Christ, they reject the truth and the way that leads to life.
Many prefer not to think about this and continue distracted, trapped in the here and now, without considering tomorrow, thus choosing to listen to the devil’s lies rather than God’s truths, just like Adam and Eve.
Jesus prepares us on the mountaintop of the Eucharist so that we are not scandalized or abandon Him when faced with the cross that inevitably awaits us. He allows us to see Him transfigured and to know His word so that in times of trial, we do not falter and can maintain hope, for He conquers death.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
St. Cyril of Jerusalem was a bishop in the fourth century. His teachings on the Eucharist, among other topics, secured his place as a Doctor of the Church. Though his ministry was marked by estrangement, exile, and ultimately, reconciliation, he never lost his faith!
Weekly Readings
Sunday: Gn 15:5-12, 17-18/Ps 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14/Phil 3:17-4:1 or 3:20—4:1/Lk 9:28b-36
Monday: Dn 9:4b-10/Ps 79:8, 9, 11 and 13/Lk 6:36-38
Tuesday: Is 1:10, 16-20/Ps 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23/Mt 23:1-12
Wednesday: 2 Sm 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16/Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29/Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22/
Thursday: Jer 17:5-10/Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6/Lk 16:19-31
Friday: Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a/Ps 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21/Mt 21:33-43, 45-46
Saturday: Mi 7:14-15, 18-20/Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12/Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
Next Sunday: Ex 3:1-8a, 13-15/Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11 (8a)/1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12/Lk 13:1-9
Scrutiny: Ex 17:3-7/Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 (8)/Rom 5:1-2, 5-8/Jn 4:5-42 or 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42
Observances for the Week
Sunday: 2nd Sunday of Lent
Monday: St. Patrick, Bishop [OM]; St. Patrick’s Day
Tuesday: St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Wednesday: St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Next Sunday: 3rd Sunday of Lent
