Lately I have been reading the sermons of St. Augustine. It’s amazing how something written over 16 centuries ago can still be so relevant today.

Below is a quote from a sermon given by St. Augustine. What is saying? He says that, just like today, we’re always on the go, busy, and never seem to stop, yet we never have time for anything. And yet we say how much we love this life.

But the question is, what happens after this life? I guess it depends on exactly what you believe. Do you believe that once we’re gone, we’re gone, there’s nothing else? Or do you believe, as I do, that there is a heaven and there is a hell and there is an afterlife? Our bodies may die, but our souls will still live. Our ultimate goal, as I always call it, living with the end in mind, is to make it to heaven so we can live eternally with God.

So what does this mean? This means that we need to do the things that Jesus has taught us. We need to be kind to other people. We need to be charitable. We need to treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves.

A long time ago, I believed that working hard and making a lot of money was key to getting more things, buying bigger things. I never enjoyed myself because I was always working. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying not to work. But as Jesus tells us in the Scriptures, we need to build up treasure in heaven, not on earth, because we can’t take it with us. When we go, it’s gone. So we need to think about how to build up treasure in heaven by doing good deeds, being charitable, and living as a good Catholic and a good Christian. I’m not going to say this is just for Catholics, because it’s not.

So how do we do that? Again, by doing good deeds and the right things. We build up that treasure for heaven, so that when the end comes, and we are at the gate, and Jesus is checking his list, we’ll move on. We may probably go to purgatory and not go directly to heaven, or we’ll go to hell.

I don’t think people today believe in this. The culture has taken God out of our society, out of our daily lives. We do not necessarily teach our children right from wrong, good from evil. We have a relativism, or we look at everything as a gray area, and we do what is best for us, not what is best for everybody else, which is not what God wants us to do. Therefore, when we decide if something is right or wrong, well, how does it make me feel? Does it make me feel good? Then it doesn’t matter, because it’s moral relativism. It’s good for me at this time, and it doesn’t matter what the consequences are. And this is how we live our lives.

That was how I lived my life, before I fell off the back of that damn truck, and it woke me up. That’s when I began to honestly believe in God, genuinely believe in Jesus, and turn my life around. Now, I’m not perfect. I’m still a sinner. I have no dispute about that fact, but at least I’m trying now. And I know one thing. I’m a lot happier than I ever was when I don’t worry about things, like material things, because I know I’m not going to be able to take them with me. As long as I have enough to live, keep a roof over my head, and food on the table, that’s all I need; I can do whatever.

I have what I need. I’m happy. My life is good. I’m working on not being a sinner. I’m working to spread God’s word, if I can, so that others might see and avoid the mistakes I have made. I’m trying to make people realize that there is an afterlife. There is heaven and hell, and we need to do what we can to get there. I believe that if everyone looked at life this way, it would make life a lot better on this earth. I believe we wouldn’t have the hate and the violence that we have, and things would just go a lot smoother and a lot better for people. Unfortunately, I’m in the minority, thinking that way. At least I believe I am.

And I think this is what St. Augustine is saying in this passage, that we worry about all this stuff, we do all this stuff, and we are going to die anyway. In some of his other sermons, he talks about how we need to “put money in the bank”, but he’s not referring to a bank or money. He’s referring to putting the good deeds and storing them up in heaven. We need to do good; that’s the money. Doing good for others, engaging in charitable activities, and living a good, holy life are all ways to put money in our bank, which is in heaven. So when the end does come, Jesus will say, “Go to my right and not go to my left.”

So you love this life, do you, in which you struggle, and run around, and bustle about and gasp for breath; and you can scarcely count the things that have to be done in this wretched life: sowing, plowing, planting, sailing, grinding, cooking, weaving. And after all this, your life has got to end anyhow

Saint Augustine. 2009. Sermons 51–94 on the New Testament. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Edmund Hill. Vol. III. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press.