Death is not the end

In death, the division between hope and fear is unbridgeable. Each of the waiting dead knows what will happen to them at the time of the Final Judgment. They know if their bodies will be resurrected to death or life. Those who hope, hope with certainty. Those who are afraid, fear with equal certainty. They all know what they have freely chosen in life - heaven or hell - and they know that time has passed to make another choice. Christ the Judge has pronounced their destiny and that destiny is sealed.

But here and now, the gulf between hope and fear can be crossed. We must not fear the end of this earthly life. We don't have to live in terror of what comes after we close our eyes for the last time. No matter how far we run away from God, no matter how often we have chosen against him and his ways, we still have time to make another choice. Like the prodigal son, we can go back to the Father's house and know that he will welcome us with open arms, transforming our fear of death into hope for life.

The fear that many of us feel when faced with death is, of course, natural. We are not made for death. We are made for life.

But Jesus came to free us from our fear of death. The loving obedience he offered on the cross atone for our sins and opened the doors to heaven for all who follow him. But it also changed the very meaning of death for those united with him. "He transformed the curse of death into a blessing", making death the door that leads to eternal life with God (CCC 1009).

That is to say, for those who die by the grace of Christ, death is not a solitary act; it is "a participation in the death of the Lord" and when we die with the Lord, we also rise with the Lord; we participate in his resurrection (CCC 1006).

This participation changes everything. The liturgy of the Church reminds us of this. "Lord, for your faithful people life has changed, it is not over", we hear the priest say during the funeral masses. "When the body of our earthly home lies in death we obtain an eternal home in heaven." When we know that death is not the end, when we know that death is only the beginning of eternal joy, of eternal life and of eternal communion with the One we love, hope dispels fear. It makes us want death. It makes us yearn to be with Christ in a world where there is no suffering, pain or loss.

Knowing that death is not the end makes us want something else. It makes us want to share our hopes with others.

The world tells us to eat, drink and have fun, because tomorrow we could die. The world sees death as the end, with only darkness to follow. The Church, however, tells us to love, sacrifice, serve and pray, so that we can live tomorrow. He sees death not so much as an end, but as a beginning, and urges us both to remain in the grace of Christ and to ask him for graces for doing it.