Beginning with the End in Mind
By Father Abraham Feliciano
On Saturday, November 22, 2014 soccer fans, specifically Spanish soccer fans (particularly the devotees of club Barcelona) were treated to an historic spectacle: Lionel Messi became the all-time career goal scorer in La Liga (the Spanish professional soccer league) history. Playing against the team Sevilla, Messi scored three goals in the game (called a hat trick) to tie and surpass the previous record of 251 goals by two, and now sits atop the record books. Barcelona would win the match 5 – 1, and celebrate both their victory and the achievement of their best player.
Messi, who hails from international soccer power Argentina, is regarded by many as not only the world’s greatest soccer player today, but also as one of the greatest players of all time. His professional team has won every single tournament and championship on all levels (national, continental and world) at least twice. He holds multiple scoring records for Argentina as well as the professional Spanish league. Yet, what is most impressive about Messi is not his soccer prowess, but rather his perspective on both soccer and life itself. He was once quoted as saying, “I prefer to win titles with the team ahead of individual awards or scoring more goals than anyone else. I'm more worried about being a good person than being the best football player in the world. When all this is over, what are you left with? When I retire, I hope I am remembered for being a decent guy.” Although only 27 years old with a lot of soccer left to play, God willing, Messi has a clear view of the end goal of his career and his life. He lives and plays with the “End in mind.”
In a book titled “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” the late author Stephen Covey states that the second step in being an effective person (or completing any effective process) is to have your goal, destination or finished product clearly defined or to “begin with the End in mind:”
“To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction,” (Covey, Stephen R.; The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1989, p. 98)
We have just begun the season of Advent and a new liturgical year. We know as Church and disciples that Advent is a very important time of preparation. Most frequently and understandably we focus on our personal, familial and communal preparations for the great celebration of Christmas, the birth of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Usually this may entail making or buying and wrapping presents, decorations, and lots of cooking and baking. Sometimes we may be involved in a Christmas concert, play or prayer service. When all is said and done, we will probably be left with a host of cherished memories and maybe some lovely gifts.
However, all too often we overlook another important aspect of our preparation. During Advent, the Church invites us to not only prepare to celebrate Jesus’ first coming among us, but also to ready ourselves for his second and final coming. In fact, the very first two weeks of Advent point us toward our future and definitive encounter with Our Lord at the end of our lives and the end of time. In the Gospel proclaimed on this year’s first Sunday of Advent, Jesus says to us, “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come . . . What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” (Mark 13:33; 37)
Advent is a time of preparation not only for celebrating Our Lord’s Nativity, but also a time for readying ourselves for what is to come. Christmas holds much more meaning than simply remembering Jesus’ birthday, an event of the past. Jesus’ birth was not an isolated event that only has meaning for the 25th of December. Our Lord’s incarnation was part of the greatest moment in all of Creation: when the Son of God came into the world to transform it and to save it. Jesus was born to suffer, die, and rise again, so that we could be reborn and rise with Him:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life,” (John 3:16).
In order for us to live the full experience of Advent and Christmas, we need to remember the destination that they point us toward and prepare ourselves accordingly. Preparing to adore Jesus in the manger means readying myself to adore him when he comes in glory at the end of the world. Opening myself to the joy of how Jesus has changed the course of human history also means opening myself up with joy to the way that he still wants to change me. While the gifts and memories of some Christmases may fade or pass away, the graces and blessings that come from an encounter with Jesus Christ never do. The first reading on the Second Sunday of Advent from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah urges on:
“A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3-5)
Stephen Covey states, “When you begin with the end in mind, you gain a different perspective.” (Covey p. 99). This has been true for Lionel Messi, who above wants to be known not only as a great player, but more so a good person. This is especially true for us, as disciples, and during this special time of year, as an “Advent People.” If each of us begins our celebration of Advent and eventually Christmas with “the End,” our end, the end that God has prepared for us clearly in mind, what will we be left with? You can be sure that it will be the greatest gift you could ask for.
Messi, who hails from international soccer power Argentina, is regarded by many as not only the world’s greatest soccer player today, but also as one of the greatest players of all time. His professional team has won every single tournament and championship on all levels (national, continental and world) at least twice. He holds multiple scoring records for Argentina as well as the professional Spanish league. Yet, what is most impressive about Messi is not his soccer prowess, but rather his perspective on both soccer and life itself. He was once quoted as saying, “I prefer to win titles with the team ahead of individual awards or scoring more goals than anyone else. I'm more worried about being a good person than being the best football player in the world. When all this is over, what are you left with? When I retire, I hope I am remembered for being a decent guy.” Although only 27 years old with a lot of soccer left to play, God willing, Messi has a clear view of the end goal of his career and his life. He lives and plays with the “End in mind.”
In a book titled “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” the late author Stephen Covey states that the second step in being an effective person (or completing any effective process) is to have your goal, destination or finished product clearly defined or to “begin with the End in mind:”
“To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction,” (Covey, Stephen R.; The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1989, p. 98)
We have just begun the season of Advent and a new liturgical year. We know as Church and disciples that Advent is a very important time of preparation. Most frequently and understandably we focus on our personal, familial and communal preparations for the great celebration of Christmas, the birth of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Usually this may entail making or buying and wrapping presents, decorations, and lots of cooking and baking. Sometimes we may be involved in a Christmas concert, play or prayer service. When all is said and done, we will probably be left with a host of cherished memories and maybe some lovely gifts.
However, all too often we overlook another important aspect of our preparation. During Advent, the Church invites us to not only prepare to celebrate Jesus’ first coming among us, but also to ready ourselves for his second and final coming. In fact, the very first two weeks of Advent point us toward our future and definitive encounter with Our Lord at the end of our lives and the end of time. In the Gospel proclaimed on this year’s first Sunday of Advent, Jesus says to us, “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come . . . What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” (Mark 13:33; 37)
Advent is a time of preparation not only for celebrating Our Lord’s Nativity, but also a time for readying ourselves for what is to come. Christmas holds much more meaning than simply remembering Jesus’ birthday, an event of the past. Jesus’ birth was not an isolated event that only has meaning for the 25th of December. Our Lord’s incarnation was part of the greatest moment in all of Creation: when the Son of God came into the world to transform it and to save it. Jesus was born to suffer, die, and rise again, so that we could be reborn and rise with Him:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life,” (John 3:16).
In order for us to live the full experience of Advent and Christmas, we need to remember the destination that they point us toward and prepare ourselves accordingly. Preparing to adore Jesus in the manger means readying myself to adore him when he comes in glory at the end of the world. Opening myself to the joy of how Jesus has changed the course of human history also means opening myself up with joy to the way that he still wants to change me. While the gifts and memories of some Christmases may fade or pass away, the graces and blessings that come from an encounter with Jesus Christ never do. The first reading on the Second Sunday of Advent from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah urges on:
“A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3-5)
Stephen Covey states, “When you begin with the end in mind, you gain a different perspective.” (Covey p. 99). This has been true for Lionel Messi, who above wants to be known not only as a great player, but more so a good person. This is especially true for us, as disciples, and during this special time of year, as an “Advent People.” If each of us begins our celebration of Advent and eventually Christmas with “the End,” our end, the end that God has prepared for us clearly in mind, what will we be left with? You can be sure that it will be the greatest gift you could ask for.