In today’s first reading, St. Paul makes this bold declaration:

But now I know that none of you to whom I preached the kingdom during my travels will ever see my face again. And so I solemnly declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God. (Acts 20:25-27 – emphasis added).

What a liberating feeling Paul must have had: knowing that his life was soon to be at an end, he was confident that he had proclaimed the “entire plan of God” to those entrusted to him. He had no regrets, for he knew that the job given to him had been fulfilled.

Recently, the blogosphere was abuzz about the five biggest regrets of the dying. They were poignant, and were cause for reflection. However, I think as followers of Christ our potential regrets will be a bit different from the rest of the world:

Regret #1: I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
Christian Regret #1: I wish I would have asked for the courage to live a life true to God’s calling, not the life others – or I – expected of me.

Regret #2: I wish I didn’t work so hard.
Christian Regret #2: I wish I worked harder to further God’s kingdom – in my life, in my family’s life, and in the life of all those around me.

Regret #3: I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
Christian Regret #3: I wish I would have asked for the courage to proclaim the Good News of Jesus to others.

Regret #4: I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Christian Regret #4: I wish I would have helped my friends draw closer to God.

Regret #5: I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Christian Regret #5: I wish that I had found more joy in living as a child of God.

When we are nearing death, are we going to be as regret-free as St. Paul? We are all called to be saints – will we be able to look back on our life and say that we did all we could to fulfill this calling? We are all entrusted with the task of sharing our faith with those we come into contact with – can we look back and say  that we have always done so?

It is never too late to start. St. Paul could live regret-free even though he was once the great persecutor of the Church, because he knew that he could proclaim with all sincerity, “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7). No matter how poorly we have lived our faith up until now, we can begin again and live regret-free from now on. We just need to ask for the grace to do so and work to participate in that grace to the best of our ability.