“At a recent meeting wherein an elderly relative was preparing advanced medical directives, a friend of the family, a secular Jew, expressed the discomfort the speaking about dying brings something to most people. I happened to mention in passing, that for a Christian, the day we die is really the greatest day of our life. She looked to me with some surprise and while I expected her to articulate that she thought that heaven was a dubious reality, instead she Said something quite different. She said, ‘Perhaps there is heaven for the faithful who believe after death. And perhaps then, to die is the greatest day of one’s life. But I do not observe the Christians live this way. It seems that they are just as anxious as anyone else about dying, and earnestly seek to avoid death just as much as anyone else.’
“A very interesting observation, and one that I found mildly embarrassing, even as legitimate explanations quickly entered my mind. But even after giving her some of the legitimate explanations for this, I must say some mild embarrassment still lingered as to the kind of witness we Christians sometimes fail to give to our most fundamental values. Based on her remark, and I’ve heard it before, most of us Christians don’t manifest a very ardent longing for heaven. I have remarked on this before, but in today’s conversation this concern once again came home to roost.”
In a recent commentary, Monsignor Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC) reflected on the place of death in the lives of Christians and their attitude toward it.
To access Msgr. Pope’s complete post, please visit:
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