“God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living… For God formed man to be imperishable, the image of his own nature he made them.” All of us have a terminal illness, and that illness is sin and death. Death is a fact of life. No one escapes it. This fact can be a cause of great anxiety and distress for many of us, and especially in this last year it has been a particularly evident part of our lives. Many of us probably knew someone who passed away during the last year, and the thought weighs heavy on our hearts. Without Christ, this weight of death remains on our hearts, and humanity, left to its own devices, has no way to combat death. But we as Christians have not been left to our own devices. We have a savior, the Divine Physician, who offers us an antidote to this terminal disease.
The good news of Christianity fundamentally is the message that we no longer need to fear death. Death does not have the last word for it was destroyed by the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. “By the envy of the Devil, death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it.” Adam and Eve were not created to die. They were created in a special state of Grace. They were created in the imperishable image and likeness of God. It was through the lies of the enemy that they fell from grace but our God, rich in love and mercy, would not see His creation abandoned to corruption. He became man and experienced death for us. In dying in the flesh, Christ has transformed death and given it a new meaning. Jesus is our divine physician who heals the wounds of sin and death in our souls such that even though we will all die, we can live in Him.
One of the greatest privileges I have had so far is to accompany priests to the beds of the dying in order to give them the last rites. The words of the Sacrament are so powerful for the sick person, and to their families, it is so clear that the Divine Physician has come to their rescue in their hour of need. Christ will not ultimately save us from a bodily death, but His death on the Cross came with a promise that He would not let His children see a spiritual death. “O death, where is your victory, O death, where is your sting.” While we do not know the moment when our earthly lives will end, let us call upon the name of our Divine Physician every day that we are given, that He may heal our souls, and bring us to that Life that will never end.
In Christ,
Colm Larkin