This last week was particularly difficult because three women our family we knew died in that period. It was not a surprise in that all three have been suffering over a prolonged period. The time, however, did not give us an opportunity to grieve for more than a day or two to pay our full respect to each as we could.
Conversations about each woman after getting over the shock of their passing, were initially based on what happened in those last days. The facts for each one were different. One was alone and found by a neighbor.
As Catholics we hope these women lived a good life that God will reward them with everlasting happiness. We concluded that they did based on what we knew, heard from others or read from messages about each one.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, death is but a passing of our soul initially and Then our body from this life to the next. The question is where we go to: Heaven for everlasting life, hell for eternal damnation or Purgatory for a period until we have fully atoned for our sins and then to heaven?
According to the Bible, death is inevitable except for Enoch, who “walked with God, and he was no longer here, for God took him,” (Genesis 5:24) and the Prophet Elijah, who was taken alive by “a flaming chariot and flaming horses went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” (2 Kings 2:11)
Even Jesus, the divine Son of God, “uttering a loud cry, breathed His last”) (Mark 15:37) as a human on a cross. In His case, however, He was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven 40 days later.
Except for Jesus who we accept as our Lord and Savior, many still do not understand why Enoch, especially, and Elijah lived and the rest of us die. The only thing we know about Enoch is that he was the father of Methuselah, the oldest living human who lived 969 years.
Elijah appears in many books of the Bible who spoke out on behalf of God’s ways as well as took action to prove to believers and non-believers that there is only one God who created us and will save us.
We look at the lives of the saints who have been canonized by the Roman Catholic Church for their good works and all of them died. What we need to remember is that Jesus’ crucifixion was God’s way of ensuring that human death is not a finality. If we accept the ways of the Lord and follow Him, it is a path for us to live beyond our mortal existence in hopes of sharing it with God eternally in heaven.
St. Paul probably expresses it the best in his epistle to the Galatians when he writes: “I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me. I still live my human life, but it is a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Gal. 2:19-20)
The sadness of losing someone you know, whether related or in friendship, is something most of us will experience if we keep in touch with others. What gives us hope is when we share with each other is how each of us walk with the Lord.
The death of these three women in one week will not be forgotten, not only because of the time frame, but because we were able to take the time to share about it and remind ourselves how important we need to be prepared for when we are called by the Lord at the end of our human life.
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