Don't Wait!

I once tried to ask out a girl. Those of you who know me in person, have your laugh here, continue reading, and do me a favor and don't bring this up the next time we meet (although at least one of you probably will. You are excused).

I had a strategy and everything. I thought it was a pretty good one. Except I left out two probably critical calculations:

1. It was the last day of classes for senior year, and
2. The walk on which I intended to ask her was much shorter than I thought it was.

So anyway, long story short, I failed. No need to ask for details; they're irrelevant to this post.

Now, where's the theology in this? Actually, it's pretty simple. If we look at my high school career and that incident as both symbolizing my life, we can rewrite the two points I miscalculated. Then, they become like this:

1. It was the last day of my life, and
2. My life was much shorter than I expected.

On that short walk, I missed an opportunity. But oh well. Si vult Deus, it'll come around again or something. One missed opportunity is not really too big of a big deal in the grand scheme of things, I suppose. But enough about that.

... So here goes.

There are people who wait too long to repent. Some may plan on calling for a priest on their deathbed to absolve their sins, give them the Eucharist, and anoint them. It seems like a good plan, some might say.

So did mine.

But both plans depend on having enough time. Mine presumed a longer walk and probably could have benefited from not being so last moment. The plan of someone who waits to repent presumes a long life and actually having a deathbed (meaning that they don't get hit by a bus or anything), and would probably benefit from having a time cushion. Because priests do get caught in traffic jams and all sorts of other things. So it's always better to plan for things like that. I missed one opportunity that in the long run might not matter at all. People who wait too long to repent just might miss their last opportunity to spend eternity in heaven. Which is pretty important, to say the least.

Let my failure be a lesson: Don't wait to repent.

(BTW: Even grave sins may be remitted by making an Act of Perfect Contrition. But Confession to a priest is still the best way to go, because after the Act of Contrition you still have to confess the grave sins if you have a chance before receiving the other Sacraments).