Death and Dying

“Make us know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom of heart.” (Psalm 90:12)

Each of us has known the death of someone close to us; sometimes death is unexpected, sometimes it is after the passion of suffering. Always death of someone makes us think of our own mortality; our thoughts vary with our relationship to Jesus.

Some may be in denial, filling the mind with useless thoughts to avoid reality. Others believe that what one fears is “somewhere down the road”, far down the road. Some may wonder about the “possibility” of eternal life either with Jesus or with Satan. Another may have questions about justice for past serious sins. Another may have questions about the resurrection of the body and the incorruptible life to come.

Pope Francis offers his answer on wisdom to help in our meaning of death and mortality. “Wisdom is the grace of being able to see everything with the eyes of God. It is simply this: seeing the world situations, conjectures, problems, with God’s eyes.” He goes on to say wisdom is a gift of the mind and penetrates the heart and acknowledging God’s way of life for us.

Jesus knows and understands all our thoughts; His incarnation into our human “flesh” left us a model to follow. “The creator of flesh becomes flesh,” says Tertullian,” becoming flesh to redeem flesh.” He rose from the dead, but did not return to human life. His body was radiant and glorified. So too will be our human bodies, a “resurrection of the dead,” as in the Creed.

His compassion for the widow of Nain left us an example of His love, but all humanity will eventually die as a result of original sin. Yet, Jesus overcame death and we too will also rise with Him, whom we have died with Him. We too will have new incorruptible spiritual bodies.

Now we can say with confidence:

In the morning, fill us with your love;

We shall exult, rejoice all our days.

Give us joy to balance our affliction

For the years when we knew misfortune.

Psalm 90