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We live in a society, where we have managed, to a very great extent, to keep the fact of our coming encounter with mortality very much out of sight and out of mind. The advances of human medicine mean we have managed to push that moment of truth further and further back; and then, when it does come it happens, very often, in the very clinical, matter of fact setting of a hospital. Yet, the hour of death calls for poetry, rather than prose. This means that we have really forgotten what our forefathers knew: that there is such a thing as a 'good death'.
Catholics pray everyday for a good death ... "holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. Those who pray the rosary, will throughout their lives have prayed millions of time for the assistance of our Lord's Mother in that last drama of our lives. Yet, how many of us have ever really pondered what we would like that to look like; how many planned for it?
“O death, where is thy victory?
O death, where is thy sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15.55-57)
Death is something we associate with sadness, weakness, defeat. But a good death is none of those things. A good death is a victory, conquering the world and the forces of darkness in the power of Jesus Christ. One who dies united in love to God, and assured of the love of those he or she has known in this world has achieved the greatest thing that can be achieved. He or she has "fought the good fight, [has] finished the race, [has] kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for [them] the crown of righteousness." (2 Tim. 4.7-8)
The Covid-19 disaster has brought the fear of death closer to those of us living in western societies than any event, perhaps since the second world war or the Cuban missile crisis. We wouldn't be human if this didn't make us, at least a little anxious, if not actually frightened. However, when we are prepared to look our mortality square in the face, it begins to lose its power over us. And, in particular, if we are prepare ourselves for a good death by seeking to be reconciled in love with our God, who desires that we would come to Him in glory; and, if we do whatever it takes to be at peace with those we have loved in this world, then death loses its sting completely.
Many people, would, of course, ask me, how I can be so sure of this? The truth is, that God has left lots of evidence of his presence scattered around his creation, among the discoveries of the philosophers and the mystics and the theologians - even the scientists; and, perhaps on another occasion, if the readership is interested, we could explore some of those. But, in the end, my confidence in the eternal comes from my encounter with the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who came into this world from heaven above - lived, died and rose again - to show us the way .
Almost everything we 'know', we know on the strength of what someone has taught us, founded on our confidence in that person. If you are feeling anxious in these days, then I can only encourage you to draw closer to Jesus, praying to Him, spending more time with him, and also listening to His living and life-giving word in the Scriptures. His Word is Life; and when we allow His Life into souls, the power of death, slowly but tremblingly is forced to depart.
In these very strange days, one of the great tragedies is that the People of God have much less access to their priests. However, we are still here, and if anyone would like to talk - either by phone or video call - please don't be afraid to get in touch.
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