My new favorite quote, I came across it years ago, is from St. John of the Cross.

In the twilight of our lives, we will be judged on love alone. How my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is Essentially Presents. Here's Jesus, who in the Gospels, when he's asked what the great commandments are, he says, love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, love your neighbor as yourself. John of the Cross isn't like inventing anything new when he says in the twilight of our lives at the end of our lives.

We'll be judged on love alone

because Jesus said, they have the two great commandments, love God with all you got, love your neighbor

as yourself. So that's key. But here's the problem. Love, maybe this is just me.

Our lives are so full that we find it difficult to love.

What I mean by that is, of course, I want to love God with everything.

I want to love my neighbor as myself.

But my life is so full, I just, ah, it's really hard.

I was thinking about this, particularly because there is a parable in Luke's gospel where Jesus says there's a wealthy man who's holding a great feast, a great feast for everyone. And so he invites three people. He invites at first someone and the guy says, I can't because I just bought a new field, I got to go inspect the field. Consider being excused. Second guy says, I have to, I just bought some new oxen. I got to inspect the ox field. Consider being excused. Second guy says, I just bought some new

oxen. I got to inspect the oxen. Consider me excused. Third guy says, I just married a woman and I can't,

I can't make it. So all three of them, now later on it goes on that Jesus says that the wealthy man

invites everybody in. He wants to have his house full. He wants his place to be packed.

But these first three, these aren't even excuses. They all have reasons. I have a new field. I've got to go take care of the field. I've got new oxen. I've got to take care of the oxen. I got a new wife. I want to be with my wife. Those are all good reasons. And there are reasons that you and I would give too. God says, I want to spend time with you. Okay, that's great, but I've got this and this and this and all these things I've got going on in my life.

I want to love you, God.

My life is just too full and doesn't even have to be full of bad things.

It might be actually full of really, really good things.

But in the twilight of my life, I'm going to be judged on love. Have I loved God

with everything I've got? Have I loved my neighbor as myself? How do I know that I've loved God

the way he's asking me to love and my neighbor the way he's commanding me to love my neighbor

when I've got so many good things that seem to do what they seem to kind of choke out love.

I've been praying about this a lot and just thinking about this and thinking what is happening

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