Dear Parishioners,

As we come closer and closer to the end of the liturgical year, the liturgy becomes more focused on the last things in life: death, heaven and purgatory. Anyone who thinks about these things realizes that the things of this world do not last forever. Yet, the Church calls our mind to this fact because it is very easy to ignore. Our culture does not like us to focus on our ultimate fate because it’s painful to think about endings. However, if we do not think about our end, we are more easily distracted by the things of this world. It is when we think we have plenty of time and no end of opportunities that we are most likely to waste the time we have on what really does not matter.

In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola encourages us to meditate on death. He asks questions like, what would you think about your life if you were on your deathbed? What decisions would you wish that you made? I think it is good to think about these questions every so often because they are a wake-up call on how we ought to be doing things differently. Many things we think we care about in the moment do not matter at all when seen against this backdrop and our attention should be on what is important.

For a Christian, death is not the end. What we should be concerned about is whether or not we are going to heaven. Are we living a life pleasing to God? Do we have love of God in all things and charity to our neighbors? We have hope because we have our Lord Jesus who saves us. We do not fear death so long as we trust in Him. We should never be discouraged or give into despair because God is in control. He gives us this life so that we can give it back to Him.

God bless!

Fr. Carter