Dear St. Rita Parishioners,
No one likes to think about death, and the modern world seems particularly averse to facing it. From using special characters to block out letters online (e.g., d*ath), to euphemisms like “euthanasia”, “death with dignity”, “medical aid in dying (MAID)”, “terminating pregnancy”, etc. to our endless search for youth, health, and long life, to “transhuman” attempts to live forever, so much energy seems to be spent on avoiding the inevitable. This terrifying, inevitable thing, however, is in fact a requirement if you want to see God face to face. The saints, it seems, long to be released from the prison of this body in order to be able to attain to their eternal joy with God. Many people, in contrast, long to be released from the prison of this body simply because life is a drag.
As Catholics, we do not shy away from death, because we recognize and accept it as a part of life. It is a remedy for sin, meaning that facing it head on helps us to grow in virtue, particularly those of humility, trust, and perseverance, all of which would have helped Adam and Eve in the Garden not to sin. The grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die, else it remains a single grain – but we want to bear fruit (cf. Jn 12:24)! We do not want our lives to be sterile or barren. We do not want to fade away into nothingness, much less be cast into the outer darkness where there is “wailing and grinding of teeth” (Mt 13:42).
For this reason, Renaissance tracts and books on holiness often had titles like “The Art of Dying Well”, by St. Robert Bellarmine. The books were not about dying, but about living, since this life is a preparation to meet our Creator and Redeemer, and to live well is to die well. “Memento Mori” – “Remember your death” – was (and still should be) a common enough phrase, not for the sake of being morbid, but because death is a real thing, and we shouldn’t be complacent, pollyannish, or unrealistic about it.
Therefore, it’s never too soon to prepare for death! Certainly, we don’t know the day or the hour (cf. Mt 24:36), but that does not mean that we become so focused on our own pursuits that we forget about this very important moment. It was nothing less than a travesty when, because of Covid restrictions, priests were unable to visit nursing homes and the like in order to confess, communicate, and anoint the elderly before their deaths. Those poor people, many of whom may have been banking on those last Sacraments, were sent to their deaths without the grace of the Sacraments, which cannot be said to have been of no consequence. How many people did not have the opportunity to repent, because no one was there to remind them or encourage them? It is terrifying to think that there could be eternal consequences because, perhaps, they assumed – presumed – that they could wait until the last minute to repent. But when the time came, there was no opportunity.
Therefore, it is not only imperative that you and I repent now and daily, but also that we ensure that our elderly loved ones have the opportunity to see a priest regularly. They need the same, if not more, care than the rest of us, because their situation is more precarious. It is a mandate of charity (4th Commandment!) for you to ensure to the best of your ability that your sick and elderly family members have access to the Sacraments. You can even pester the priest about this with no qualms whatsoever.
It is also extremely important that you plan for a funeral Mass after the passing of your loved ones. Not only is it their right, but they also need the benefits of the Mass for the healing and cleansing of their souls. It is always sad when a family opts for prayers at the funeral home or graveside apart from a funeral Mass. A story of Padre Pio illustrates this:
“One evening, while I was alone in choir to pray, I heard the rustle of a suit and I saw a young monk that stirred next to the High altar. It seemed that the young monk was dusting the candelabra and straightening the flower vases. I thought he was Padre Leone rearranging the altar, and, since it was supper time, I went to him and I told him: ‘Padre Leone, go to dine, this is not the time to dust and to straighten the altar.’
But a voice, that was not Father Leone answered me: ‘I am not Padre Leone.’ ‘And who are you?’, I asked him. ‘I am a brother of yours that made the novitiate here. I was ordered to clean the altar during the year of the novitiate. Unfortunately, many times I didn’t reverence Jesus while passing in front of the altar, thus causing the Holy Sacrament that was preserved in the tabernacle to be disrespected. For this serious carelessness, I am still in Purgatory. Now, God, with his endless goodness, sent me here so that you may quicken the time I will enjoy Paradise. Take care of me.’
I believed to be generous to that suffering soul, so I exclaimed: ‘You will be in Paradise tomorrow morning, when I will celebrate Holy Mass.’
That soul cried: ‘Cruel!’ Then he wept and disappeared. That complaint produced in me a wound to the heart that I have felt and I will feel my whole life. In fact I would have been able to immediately send that soul to Heaven but I condemned him to remain another night in the flames of Purgatory.”
What suffering must the souls in Purgatory endure if just one more night caused such a reaction? It is an impetus for us not only not to sin, but to pray fervently and regularly for the souls in Purgatory, especially if they happen to be our loved ones! Do not neglect them. Just because their suffering on earth is over does not mean there is no more suffering before Heaven. The Holy Mass is the most efficacious means of releasing souls from Purgatory. We will certainly want that grace when we die, and so we cannot refuse it to others. For yourselves, it is good to put it in your will and to explain clearly to your children or family members your wishes – you want a funeral Mass after your death. It is your right as a practicing Catholic, and it is your need as a soul on its way (God willing) to Heaven!
Sadly, however, not all souls go to Heaven, and so the time to prepare for death is now.
In Christ,
Fr. Christensen