Plan for Eternity
My father had cancer for a number of years, and as the disease progressed, he began getting his affairs in order, as they say. He took care of practical things, like finances and planning his funeral. But more importantly, he prepared his soul. He remembered people he had harmed in some way and sought them out to ask forgiveness. His prayer life became richer. He mellowed in dealing with others, not losing patience as easily as he had in the past. His goal was to have a soul ready to enter heaven. He was a wise man.
Each of us should do the same thing, even without a cancer diagnosis. As we near the end of this year and begin a new one, we can develop our own plan for eternity. This year may not be my last, but that doesn't matter. Jesus told us to always be prepared because we never know when our time is up.
Here are some ideas for creating such a plan, one that is unique to you because your life and relationship with God are unique.
In the Beginning—The Rule of Life
Our plan is founded on a rule of life that defines our personal spiritual practices—what we do daily, weekly, monthly, annually to know, love, and serve God. To continually mature in the spiritual life. The spiritual habits that we have or want to develop.
Those habits fit into five categories:
Prayer, both communal and private prayer. Praying with others and time alone with God.
Worship and the sacraments. How frequently we go to Mass (or church service if not Catholic). How often we receive the sacrament of Reconciliation?
Personal growth. What we do to learn our faith and grow in our relationship with God. It is a combination of filling our minds and our hearts. This includes things like Bible study, spiritual reading, retreats, conferences and spiritual direction.
Service. How we serve others. How we use our gifts for the building up of the kingdom.
Self-denial/mortification. The sacrifices we make to grow in self-discipline, like fasting and almsgiving.
If you don't have a formal rule of life, take time to identify and record your spiritual practices today. That is a good starting point for your plan for eternity.
As you identify the rule of life you're currently living, you might feel bad, thinking you aren't doing enough. You aren't good enough. You aren't holy enough. That's a spiritual attack from the enemy. He wants you to feel bad about your imperfection, as if everyone else is perfect and you're not. News flash. We are all imperfect. None of us are good enough. None of us is holy enough. And God loves us anyway. We can delight in that. We can praise God for that. And we can begin to make a plan to change, to respond more often to God's grace, to overcome our weaknesses, to grow closer to God, to serve God more faithfully and cheerfully. That's a plan for eternity.
How Is It Working? Analysis Matters.
Once you identify your current spiritual habits (your rule of life), evaluate how it's working and identify opportunities for change. Here are some questions that might help. What is going well in my rule of life? What am I satisfied with? What is not going well? What do I wish were different? Where am I struggling the most spiritually? What is holding me back from becoming a saint? How nourishing is my spiritual food?
When you know what's working and not working, then prayerfully discern what changes are needed. Is it a particular virtue, a spiritual practice, an educational focus? What should you be reading? Should you continue with the same service as this year, or should something change? Should you be doing more or less? What kind of retreat will be most helpful at this stage of your life?
Determine what specific actions you will take or resources you will use in the next year. For example, if you want to try spiritual direction, what will you do to find a spiritual director who is a good fit? If you want to do some spiritual reading, what specific books or authors will you choose? You know you want to go on a retreat. What kind of retreat and with what group? Those kinds of specific questions help you create a clear and realistic plan.
My Plan for Eternity (a work in progress)
As I prayerfully consider how my rule of life is working, I can see two areas to address: prayer and self-denial. (There are more areas, but I can't take on everything, so I chose two that I think will have the greatest impact on my spiritual growth.)
The first area is prayer. I am good at keeping a regular schedule for morning and evening prayer, but sometimes feel rushed and don't take as much time as I would like for meditation. I want my relationship with Jesus to go deeper, and I know that means spending time with Him.
The second area is related: self-denial. I often waste time scrolling through social media or playing games on my phone. I think, just one more game, and then an hour later I'm still playing. That is a distraction of the enemy, and I don't like it. I don't like that I am not resisting it very well.
Given those areas of focus, what are my specific plans for change? I am committed to spending 30 minutes each day in meditation. This is in addition to my current practice of praying the Divine Office and frequent Mass. I need something to spark the daily meditation. I'm still discerning specific books, but one will be the works of St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei. I can take some of his writing in short bits and meditate on that. My plan is to read through it very slowly, choosing one paragraph or sentence each day to explore. I also want to read a biography or autobiography of a saint, although I'm not sure who, probably a woman. I'm still working on this part and will decide by the end of the year.
If I want 30 minutes more in prayer, it needs to come from somewhere since I cannot increase the number of hours in a day. That's where self-discipline comes in. I think I will set some "dark hours" each day when I won't use my phone beyond checking necessary email and phone calls. I'd like to go cold turkey and cut it out completely, but that's not realistic given my life, so I'll start here. I need to choose my dark hours—the times I won't be on my phone. I know it will be after 11pm, but not sure about daytime hours. I'm still discerning that.
Words of Warning
Here are some things to remember as you create your plan so that it bears spiritual fruit.
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Your rule should fit the circumstances of your life. A mom with little ones at home won't have the same level of spiritual activity as a retired grandmother living alone. A father with a full-time job can't follow a rule written for a priest or seminarian. Know your priorities: God first (worship and prayer), family next, others last. Don't feel guilty about the things you can't do.
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Avoid rigidity in the rule. It may need to change because of unexpected circumstances. When you get sick, you can't fulfill the rule. If there is a family emergency, you can't get to Mass. Adapt when the need arises. And don't worry about it. It is not a sin to fail in the rule. This should be a spiritual help, not a source of accusation when we fail.
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Don't tackle more than you can handle. If you have been a Sunday-only churchgoer, it may not be realistic to attend Mass every day. If you are spending 15 minutes in daily prayer, don't jump to 2 hours. Increase it to 30 minutes. When that habit is ingrained, increase it again. Unrealistic expectations don't work and may actually set you back spiritually. A wise spiritual friend can help you be realistic.
Our spiritual growth is not in our hands. It's all up to the Holy Spirit. I can make a plan, and I should, but the Holy Spirit is in charge. He might bring me in a different direction. He might illuminate my mind about a particular personal weakness that I hadn't thought of. My plan might change, and that's fine. If the Holy Spirit is the one driving the change, great! But if I'm driving the change because I don't feel like doing the hard work, that's not good. Always leave room for the Holy Spirit, in the planning and in the execution of your plan for eternity.
Flexibility, receptivity, faithfulness, surrender to God. All are important. We make a plan, turn it over to God, and work it as best we can. At the end of the year, we may be surprised at how we grew—even beyond our expectations and plans. We may find, please God, that we made progress and are closer to God. That's the point of the plan for eternity.
We can allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify us. We can take action to be open to His work in our hearts and souls. Our death may not be imminent, but it will come. Let's be ready.
Questions for prayer:
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What is your current rule of life? How is it working?
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What changes might help you make spiritual progress next year?