For You the Bell Tolls -- One Day
by: Denise Mailhot, OPL

Saturday Ramblins, Vol. 2, No. 14 (July 17, 1999)

The place where I work is across the street from one of the local Catholic churches. Two or three times a week, I hear the single bell toll at 15 minutes before a given morning hour signaling that a funeral is about to happen. Another soul has seen its Father and Creator.

For some reason this morning that thought really struck me. We know that Jesus came to give us life "more abundantly" and we think that's the here and now . . . and yes that is true but the "here and now" is but a moment compared to the here. What we do with this moment will determine forever. That funeral bell is a song -- singing to us about our real destiny: to be united with the greatest love of all.

8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children --
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

When I was in elementary school in the 60s I remember learning the catechism with its question and answer format. One question I remember is "Why did God make me?" and the answer was, "So that I could know and love and serve God in this life and spend eternity with Him in the next."

Long before that bell rings for you, your eternal fate is determined. It is at times like these, when I hear that bell, that I appreciate the ministry of priests and those in religious life. They have dedicated themselves to challenging us to live a life worthy of that eternal destiny. As my spiritual director said to me once, "Hey, that's what I'm all about!!" He tries to walk the walk in his own life as well. The bell will toll for him one day too.

My day will come, and the bell will toll. Will I be found worthy? On my own, not a chance! But the Lord in His goodness has graced me with a knowledge and acceptance of the sacrifice that His Son Jesus made for me. In faith, I can say "Jesus is Lord," and each day I try to allow Him to be my Master as well. His sacrifice, and my acceptance of His forgiveness, covers my multitude of sins. He and He alone makes me worthy. As He was nailed to the cross, He looked across the ages and saw me, and thought I was worth it. He saw you, too. You are worth it.

What will be the condition of your heart the next time you hear a funeral bell toll?

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