Death, the Final Frontier

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ • St. Josaphat Formation Center, Phoenix, AZ

As we remember and pray for our deceased loved ones and all the dead on the Feast of All Souls this month of November, we are brought at the same time face-to-face with the reality of our own mortality. 

Death is something that we all have to deal with one way or another. Secularists avoid the issue – in fact, they run away from it. Understandably, they will do anything to distract themselves from even the thought of the inevitable darkness and emptiness that awaits them and for which they have no further commentary than “That’s all folks”. It’s also here their debate with believers comes to an abrupt end, usually finishing with the jab, “Oh you Christians put all your hope in Heaven and neglect the present world.” It’s the classic dodge of the real issue using the grand lie about religion being the opiate of the people. 

Death is the doorway to the next world. Greeks talked about crossing a river, Native Americans about crossing the great divide, for Christians it is crossing a threshold. Yes, it can be scary, because we do not know exactly how it will be and the unknown frightens us, but that it will be a passage to new and eternal life is guaranteed by the One who is the Truth and Who cannot deceive. It is what Faith and Hope are all about. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” 

The best way to prepare for death is to get busy living – well! While Faith and Hope open the door to eternal salvation for us, it is Charity that decides our destiny of Heaven or Hell. “Whatever you do for the least of My brothers, you did for Me”, is the criteria for eternal salvation from the lips of the Lord Himself. If we live every day as an opportunity to “do all the good we can in the time we have”, St. Paul says, then we can make the world a better place while preparing our way to the next, better one. Then there will be no sorrow, regrets or hesitation at the time of our death. And one of the good things to do for the least of our brothers and sisters is to pray for their souls and the all the souls in Purgatory, visit and honor them in the cemeteries and offer Masses and prayers for them, because their lives have not ended, only changed.