“We are always courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord. Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or bad.”
The words of St. Paul to the Corinthians are truly welcome. We have been reminded constantly during the past fifteen months of the virus and death. The pandemic should teach us to think of that day which awaits us all. We do so, not out of fear, but aware that we are going home to our home.
There are many things in life we anticipate with joy and look forward to, such as a wedding, the birth of a child, a homecoming. Paul’s teaching is of the homecoming, with recompense and reward. As he speaks he wants us to be sure we are living the life of grace, free of sin and in union with the Lord. ‘We aspire to please Him.’ That is why we are courageous, or as the hymn says, ‘Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.’