There can be a tendency among some faithful, life-long Christians to express a certain displeasure when a person who has lived a deeply sinful life has a late in life or even deathbed conversion. A common objection is that it seems too easy, they did nothing to earn their salvation and now, just like that, at the very end, they get the award of heavenly life.
My response to this objection is simply this: I didn’t do anything to earn my salvation either. Neither did you. It doesn’t matter how virtuous of a life any of us lived, how faithfully we followed the Lord and avoided sin, none of us has ever or could ever gain heaven by our own merits. I don’t usually like to speak for other people, but in this case, I will be bold and say, as scripture does, “all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) All of us are in need of salvation and there was nothing easy about it. The price paid for my redemption, for yours, and for that of the person who finally repented at the end of their life is the same; it is the blood of the cross.
Another, and I believe more insidious objection remains. This objection manifests in something akin to jealousy or fear of missing out. This is the elder son who has always been faithful resenting the younger son for “getting” to leave the father’s house and live life his own way, on his own terms for a while. At its root is the idea that life in the world, without all the rules and restrictions imposed by the Church or a life of faith, is fundamentally better then Christian life. Living a Christian life is dull, sacrificial, mediocre at best, and as such is something to be endured in this life so that we can enter into the joy of the next life. Missing out on the goods offered by the world in this life is the price we pay for eternal life and therefore it is just not fair if someone who didn’t make that sacrifice gets eternal joy too. They get to have their cake and eat it too.
I could respond to this objection by making the case that the life the world offers, life on my terms where I get to do whatever I want is actually not that great. I think that is any easy argument to make. Behind all the gloss of worldly alure there is very little substantial or satisfying. The younger son ended up miserable, begging for pig food, before coming to his senses. However, I think that a better response, and one sadly seldom heard, is that life lived for Christ, as a faithful Christian is actually really good. It is a life worth living and the blessing of it is to be experienced even now, on this side of the veil.
Even on a more or less worldly level the idea that Christians have to give up the goods of the world is false and silly. At least as Catholics I know we aren’t missing out on much. I own a book called “Drinking with the Saints,” most of my married friends have lots of kids and yes, they know what causes that and they enjoy it, thank you very much. Easter is a longer season then Lent because even though the Church asks us to sacrifice, it also exhorts us to celebrate. One of the commandments is to take a day of rest. We have feast days throughout the year and the more seriously we take our faith, the more lavishly we celebrate those feasts. Honestly, we are the ones that have our cake and eat it too.
As I have grown in my own faith, what I have experienced is not a life dominated by heavy rules and restrictions, but rather one dominated by love. I have deep, lasting, meaningful friendships that have withstood both time and distance because they are built on a mutual love of Christ and not simply on common interests, enjoyment, or utility. I live a rich life in a world filled with beauty, truth, and goodness. When there are times of suffering, I am able to turn to the Lord and find peace and hope rather than having suffering be compounded by meaninglessness.
Knowing Jesus is a joy, a real, substantial, meaningful, heartfelt joy. It is a gift and honor. Living my whole life knowing that I am loved by God and invited into relationship with Him even now and that, through a life of faith and in the Church, He has given me a way to start living out that relationship now is a precious treasure, one that I wouldn’t trade for anything or everything the world could possibly offer.
A life lived in and for Jesus Christ is one to be rejoiced in. If someone converts late in life, we ought not to be jealous of what they gained by life in the world, but rather saddened by what they missed out on by a life apart from God. And then, in charity, we should rejoice that at long last they have come home, and they too can finally experience the richness of life lived in an awareness of God’s love, a blessing we have enjoyed all along.
Prose for the sake of Poetry 