AS
priest, I get to see many people already on the verge
of death. Their families invite me to give them the last
sacraments of
the anointing, communion or viaticum. If the patients are
still able,
I would hear their confessions.
But
it’s the effort to convey the Christian meaning of
suffering and death that I find most challenging. I’m
aware of the
different levels of faith that people have, and it’s in
how to adapt
the doctrine to their level, such that they get to
appreciate it, that
would leave me gasping for divine inspiration.
I just
can’t dish out the teaching in the raw. I need to
dress it up, using the appropriate words, tone, arguments
and
examples. I also need a good sense of timing, feeling the
pulse of
those around to see if my words are entering or not.
Indeed, a tricky
affair, but all worth it. I learn something every time I
do this.
special attention to our beloved departed, it might be
good to
meditate once again on the reality of death. In this,
what is
necessary is to see it always from the point of view of
our faith.
It’s in
our Christian faith that the complete picture of
death is shown and explained. It’s in our Christian faith
where the
source, cause and purpose of death are given. It’s in our
Christian
faith where we are told what attitude we ought to have
toward it as
well as how to take advantage of it, especially because
it is
unavoidable.
We have
to be wary when we just allow ourselves to be led
simply by our emotions or some cultural and social
beliefs and
practices which, while having their valid inputs, do not
give us the
whole picture. Without the light of faith, these factors
sooner or
later will give us a distorted and dangerous
understanding of death.
consequence of sin, the sin of our first parents which we
now inherit.
Obviously, our own personal sins contribute a lot to it.
We have
to remember that at the beginning we are meant to
be immortal, not only spiritually but also bodily.
Together with
immortality, we in our first parents before the fall
enjoyed the
preternatural gifts of integrity and impassibility—the
capacity not to
suffer.
All
these were gone with the sin of Adam and Eve, and
death came as the ultimate consequence of sin. Death
therefore came to
us as a deformation of our human nature in its original,
sinless
state, and as a divine retribution.
But God
is full of love and mercy and he cannot remain in
anger with the masterpiece of his creation. He undertook
a plan to
save us, a long, tortuous and complex one not because of
his impotence
but rather because of the complex and complicated
condition that we
have fallen into after falling into sin.
God’s
plan of human redemption, which he carries out with
the fullness of his powers, is not pursued as pure
dole-out, a
give-away without us corresponding to his plan. He always
respects our
freedom, no matter how we misuse and abuse it, and leads
us back to
him, irrespective of how complex the ways to return to
him might be.
In this
regard, our Catechism teaches: “’God created us
without us, but he did not will to save us without us.’
(St.
Augustine) To receive his mercy, we must admit our
faults.” (1847)
We now
know how this divine plan was carried out to its
fulfillment. He sent his Son to us, the Son became man,
taught us
everything that we need to know for our salvation, and
ultimately
offered his life on the cross, and then resurrected.
living word and his living presence in the sacraments. He
endowed it
with both visible and invisible gifts so that the
redemptive presence
and work of Christ can continue to be with us till the
end of time.
This is how God loves us.
As a
result, death has ceased to be a punishment, but
rather a means of our salvation. It’s not anymore merely
an end to
life, but is in fact now the beginning of a new and
eternal life with
God. When seen with faith, death is actually a happy event,
not a sad
one, since with it one goes home to his Father God.
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