Jesus not only shows the way (Jn 14:1-6)
Jesus’ words not only wipe away tears but give hope.
What do we tend to think about an open grave? Who would have laughed and joked then? Even saints experience fear of death.
Death is a decisive milestone in the life of every person. At one point, time stops. Both a sick and a suffering person have plans; death will end them, and they will not be realized. Resolutions will not come true, and meetings with dear ones will no longer occur. The dying person no longer says the word forgive, sorry, thank you, I loved you, I loved…, but he will not say more, or I was wrong, I was weak, pray for me.
Faith in God, faith in eternal life, and being prepared to meet God the Judge by death do not lose anything; on the contrary.
The death of a faithful one to God is hoping when the words of Christ are realized: “I will take you unto me, that ye may also be where I am” (Jn 14:3).
“A Christian who associates his death with the death of Jesus understands death as coming unto Christ and as an entry into eternal life” (CCC 1020). The Church emphasizes preparing for an encounter with God the Judge. The phrase is not the words: “What a life, such a death.” Living in the presence of God, often arousing pity, God rewards the pain of the soul over sins with His mercy. To stand before the one to whom not only our deeds and words but all thoughts and movements of the heart are known requires preparation from a reasonable person. The Church not only mediates the sacrament of the sick to the sick and dying, which is preceded by the Sacrament of Reconciliation but also includes the viaticum in the immediate event of dying. The viaticum is the Eucharistic Christ as the most significant reinforcement for such a serious meeting. Whoever receives Jesus Christ under the mode of bread and wine as the true God cannot receive better support for the moment when he sees him face to face.
Yes, earthly life ends with death to begin a new, eternal, without end, without other partings, pains… Immediately after death, there is a trial. A personal judgment where every good is rewarded, every evil is punished, and man receives a just eternal reward. The immortal soul given by God to the man at conception, for his earthly life, conscious and free, will receive the final statement from God. The latter consists of three options. In a state of purification, if in its lifetime the soul did not do everything it had, as a result of evil, sin. Or he accepts the invitation as a reward for heavenly bliss. Or he will be damned forever.
Heaven is man’s last goal and the fulfillment of his deepest desires, a state of supreme and definitive bliss. Man lives in heaven with Christ. At the same time, each soul will retain its true identity, its name. Heaven consists in possessing the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He alone can give this reward because He opened heaven through His death and Resurrection, the sins of our grandparents, and our personal closed. The tip transcends every understanding and every image we can have on earth because “neither the eye saw, nor the ear heard, nor ascended into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Because God is transcendent, he can only be seen as he is when he makes his mystery available to the immediate view of man and gives him the ability to do so. The Church calls this view of God in his heavenly glory a “lukewarm vision” (visio beatifica). This state will be eternal.
Purgatory will serve after death to purify those who have died in God’s grace and friendship with God but are not perfectly cleansed; although they are sure of their eternal salvation, cleansing is needed to achieve holiness. Purgatory is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. Some guilt has forgiven us already in this world, while some we have to atone for in the next. Therefore, it is recommended to pray for the souls of the dead, especially during the celebration of the Eucharist, almsgiving, and repentant deeds, so that souls from Purgatory may obtain as soon as possible obtain a clouding vision of God.
Hell is a punishment for those who freely choose not to love God. He who remains in sin does not love God, does not love his neighbor, becomes a murderer, and “the murderer does not have eternal life in himself” (1 Jn 3:14-15). Hell is a definitive separation from God and, therefore, eternal consequences for not recognizing and loving God, even in the hour of death, when the punishment consists of eternal separation from God. Jesus speaks of hell, an unquenchable fire (cf. Mt 5:22,29;13,42,50; Mark.9:43-48). The statement of Christ, “Depart from me, you cursed, into eternal fire” (Mt 25:41), will be immutable, final, last, and therefore terrible.
At the end of time, at the second coming of Christ into the world, when He comes “in His glory, and with him, all the angels” (Mt 25:31), the truth about each person’s relationship with God will be definitively revealed. The Last Judgment will indicate to the last consequences what good everyone has done or neglected to do during his earthly life. Creation will come to know the final meaning of the whole work of creation and the entire economy of salvation and will understand the marvelous paths along which God’s providence has led everything to the ultimate goal. The Last Judgment will show that the righteousness of God triumphs over all the injustices committed by His creation and that God’s love is stronger than death. There will be a new heaven and earth, with a profound unity between the material world and man. We do not know the time of the planet’s and humanity’s completion. And not even the way it will happen.
We know that our life has an end. The hour of death is ahead of each of us. We know neither the time, the place, nor the method of death. Just because they are in favor of euthanasia does not mean that euthanasia is allowed. Only God has the right to call a man beneath. One must not choose oneself between life and death. Neither suffering nor anything else justifies him to do so. We must humbly accept God as our Lord of life and death. Otherwise, we are making a statement above ourselves. No one or a doctor can entrust him with ending someone’s life because he does not have power in the name of whom and the name of what. Otherwise, he is a self-proclaimed decision-maker, and he is called a murderer. And the murderer is the one who brings out the orthodoxy over the unborn person and the one who no longer wishes to live. No murderer can participate in glory in the kingdom of God.
The Persian fairy tale told of a chess player with the greatest sages called and asked them: “What is the greatest misfortune in a person’s life?” The first replied, “The greatest misfortune is to be sick.” Second: “The greatest misfortune is to be old!” And the third: “The greatest misfortune is to have a feeling of wasted life before death.”
And our answer? Let’s see our lives. Is it worth risking eternal salvation? To make excuses that we still have time? To consider God an older man we can catch up with?
We have evidence that it is not worth fighting against God. It is fitting that even men in their fifties, who tend to die quickly and without saying goodbye, often in their sleep and early morning, know how to reconcile with God every evening. It is fitting that when I get behind the wheel, I go on the road and can check the tank, brakes, engine, and my relationship with God. The largest cemeteries are our roads. It is fitting that we can reconcile when we have interpersonal difficulties so that the sun does not set over our anger. It is suitable to be prepared to meet God, expose yourself to damnation, and cause many hardships to the bereaved. It is convenient to live in friendship with God, and people, have purity of soul, have a joyful experience on earth as in the vestibule of heaven, and expect the reward of the righteous from God.
He called death St. Francis a sister. Let us not degrade the hour of death by comparing it to a skeleton. Let us pray daily for the happy hour of our death. And today, let our prayer belong to those who have preceded us into eternity as an expression of our gratitude, love, respect, supplication, supplication.
ORIGINAL
