Br. Joseph Graziano, O.P., on the "Great Story"

"At the end of the seventh and final book in C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, the suggestion is made that our life on earth is only the cover and title-page of the 'Great Story' that commences after our death. Consider the infinity of eternity. By comparison, a few days is virtually the same as eighty years. If some finite quantity is added to infinity, the result is not a greater value. Infinity cannot really be added to. To add eighty is the same as to add zero. Likewise, a book's title-page isn't really part of the story. Next to the story itself, the title-page is as nothing.

"The suggestion, however, is not that our earthly life is meaningless. A book's cover is still important. It tells us what the book is about. In a similar way, the quality of our earthly life determines the quality of our afterlife. Specifically, it is our earthly relationship with God that determines our eternal relationship with him. Still, it does not take an entire lifetime to form a friendship with God. It takes only as long as a deathbed conversion or the falling of water over the baptismal font. The Holy Innocents, whom Herod killed in his hunt for the infant Jesus, did not need a lifetime of accomplishments in order to become the friends of God."

In a recent commentary, Brother Joseph Graziano, O.P., reflects on how the "stories of our lives are never just biographies, because our lives are never just about us."

To access Br. Joseph's complete post, please visit:

Dominicana: The Great Story (30 DEC 15)