A few years ago, a movie came out that I suspect many of you have seen. It is called The Bucket List, and stars two of my favorite actors, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. It is about two men from very different backgrounds who end up sharing a hospital room. Both are diagnosed with terminal illness, and so they decide to make up a bucket list of all the things they want to do and experience together before they die. Some friends of mine gave me the DVD and it is a pretty good movie.

I thought of that movie when reading the second reading from St. Paul: "I am confident of this, that the One who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the coming of Christ Jesus." The question that raises for me is this---what does it mean to bring life to its completion?

This week I talked with a fairly young man who is diagnosed with a terminal illness. I asked him, "What do you think needs to happen in your life before you die?" Then I said, "Have you seen the movie the Bucket List?" He said, "Yes." I asked, "What did you think of it?" He said, "Well, I am not a big fan of the movie. They were so self-absorbed. Almost all of things on their list had to do with what they wanted the world to do for them."

I never thought of that, but he is right. Their wishes for their final months of life were mostly self-centered. So the thought occurred to me, why not come up with a Christian bucket list? This one would be focused on what I can give to the world instead of what I want the world to give to me.

So that is our goal as we continue to talk, to figure out a Christian bucket list in his life. Actually, that is not a bad idea for each of us, because the reality is that each of us is dying as well.

Advent is the season in which we say we are preparing our hearts and our lives for the Coming of the Lord. But our culture denies our mortality in many ways. When I was serving in Mason Citiy, one of the things I learned was that over two thirds of people have no will. That astounded me. I asked two attorneys in the parish why they thought that that was. Both gave the same answer, no one really wants to face the fact that we will die soon.

In a strange way, the young man who is facing his own terminal illness is blessed. He has a chance to be deliberate in how he wants to live the rest of his life, whether it be a few months or a few years. He is able to clearly define who he wants to become as a person. Many of us, on the other hand, just sleepwalk through life and never have a clear sense of defining what we want our lives to be about.

So what might be on your Christian bucket list? For some, it may be to seek reconciliation, or asking for forgiveness. For some it may be a renewed sense of commitment to service, or an act of great generosity that will benefit generations to come.

It will be whatever the Holy Spirit says to us when we ask the Lord, "What needs to happen in my life NOW, so that one day I can die in peace, with a really big smile on my face?"