Eventide & Altar

Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior. Paul writes that to people much younger than you, but it lands differently in an ear that has had decades to test whether it's true. You are closer to that citizenship than most of the people around you, and there is no need to pretend otherwise or soften it into something more comfortable for others to hear. It is simply where you are standing.

A dishonest manager, about to lose his job, quickly settles accounts in his own favor before the door closes on him. Jesus does not praise the dishonesty. He praises the urgency - the man used the little time he had left better than most people use time they assume is unlimited. You have less of that illusion left than you once did, and that is not a loss. It is clarity that younger people have not yet earned.

Fridays this month carry their own weight. Whatever small penance you already keep, offer it tonight specifically for the names in your book - not as an abstract sacrifice, but as something aimed, on purpose, at bringing someone else a little closer to the citizenship Paul describes. A long life has taught you plenty about small, repeated sacrifices that add up to something real over time. This is simply one more of those, aimed at people who can no longer make the offering themselves.

The Sorrowful Mysteries tonight, since it is Friday. Offer the fifth mystery, the Crucifixion, for every name in your book still on the way to the citizenship Paul describes.

• For the grace to live as citizens of heaven, especially those of us closest to it now, we pray to the Lord.
• For the wisdom to use whatever time remains as urgently and honestly as the dishonest manager used his, we pray to the Lord.
• For all who have died, especially those for whom this Friday's small sacrifice is offered, we pray to the Lord.

Offer whatever penance you already keep on Fridays specifically for the names in your book tonight. Say so plainly when you offer it.