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It’s Day 138!!
We have a week left before we start PILLAR 2: HOW WE WORSHIP
We get to conclude today talking about DEATH
WHICH IS REMARKABLE!!
Paragraph 1012 says, “The Christian vision of death receives privileged expression in the liturgy of the Church: Indeed for your faithful, Lord, life is changed not ended, and, when this earthly dwelling turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is made ready for them in heaven.”
Life is CHANGED not ENDED
If we have been Baptized into Christ, we have died IN A REAL WAY
There is this FULFILLMENT of what BEGAN at our Baptism
We have been BURIED with Christ in our Baptism and it has now been CONSUMMATED in some ways by death and the potential to rise with Christ
Paragraph 1013 says, “Death is the end of man’s earthly pilgrimage…”
It is the end of the time we had an opportunity to respond to God’s Grace and conform our will to His
To become a certain kind of person that would dwell in His presence for all eternity
Paragraph 1013 continues, “There is no ‘reincarnation’ after death.”
It is appointed for men to die ONCE
We get ONE SHOT
ONE OPPORTUNITY
What are you going to do?
Are you going to let it pass?
Are you going to seize it?
Shout out to Eminem 😉
We also get to prepare ourselves for the HOUR OF OUR DEATH
IN FACT…
Everytime we pray the Hail Mary we say it
“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death…”
Paragraph 1014 says, “Every action of yours, every thought, should be those of one who expects to die before the day is out. Death would have no great terrors for you if you had a quiet conscience…”
This comes from “THE IMITATION OF CHRIST” by Thomas A Kempis
So we pray for that heart right now and that fearlessness in the face of death
Because we have CONFIDENCE IN JESUS
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you thanks. We praise you. We thank you for giving our life meaning. We thank you for the fact that you see every one of our actions. You know every one of our choices. You know the inner workings of our heart. You have counted every hair on our head because we matter to you in some mysterious and incredible way. We matter to you and our choices matter. Our choices in this life will echo for all of Eternity. We ask that you please help us to make choices for you today. Help us to not make any choices against you. And if we have fallen, if we have said no to you, we ask that you please give us the grace. Give us the grace to repent. Give us the grace to say yes to your invitation to let you forgive us. Lord God, give us your mercy and help us to be the kind of people who can walk in your presence. Who can live in the light of your face. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”
So there we are!!
OH MY GOODNESS!!
What is our vision of death?
THIS IS SO IMPORTANT FOR US!!
The mortality rate for human beings continues to hover around 100%
All of our lives are not only marked by our own deaths, but the deaths of everyone that we love
We affirm this
We grieve this
The shortest verse in the New Testament is in John Ch 11, “Jesus wept.”
Why did Jesus weep?
His friend Lazarus had died 4 days before
Jesus KNEW that He would raise Lazarus from the dead
AND YET…
In the fact of this grief, loss, and death, Jesus allowed that to BREAK HIS HEART
Jesus was not impassive or uncaring
In the face of death, God reveals HIS HEART
So we get to grieve
BUT…
We MUST NOT grieve as those who HAVE NO HOPE
To lose those we love
To lose those we have given our hearts to
To lose those who have given us their hearts
We grieve and we miss them
BUT…
We DO NOT grieve as those who HAVE NO HOPE
IN FACT…
If you find your heart breaking because of death, you are very united with Jesus
IN FACT…
You are united with the WHOLE HOLY FAMILY
Mary received Jesus’ dead body into her motherly arms from the Cross
You are united with St. Joseph who is the PATRON SAINT OF A HAPPY DEATH
Why?
Because he got to die in the presence of Jesus, the Son of God, and Mary, the Mother of God
So we pray for that same kind of death that Mary is praying for us at the hour of our death
But also that we are received by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at the hour of our death
So we pray to St. Joseph for that happy death
What is a happy death?
It is a death that we are RECONCILED WITH OUR FATHER
We have LIVED OUR LIVES in such a way that we can praise God for His Grace, His Forgiveness, and His Mercy
He can look at us and say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come receive your Master’s joy.”
THAT is a happy death
Paragraph 1013 says, “Death is the end of man’s earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers us so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate destiny.”
THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!!
We get to DECIDE OUR ULTIMATE DESTINY
In the next couple of days we will talk about judgment, life everlasting, and we get to choose Heaven or Hell because of Jesus
What Jesus has decided and what God the Father has decided is that HE WANTS US
His choice for us is IRREVOCABLE
IT WILL NEVER CHANGE
HE WANTS US!!
Our ULTIMATE DESTINY in God’s eyes is for us to be with Him FOREVER in Heaven
BUT…
WE GET TO DECIDE!! get to decide
To either say YES to that
Or say NO to that
Because of God’s Grace and Mercy it is our ULTIMATE DESTINY
Paragraph 1013 continues, “When ‘the single course of our earthly life’ is completed, we shall not return to other earthly lives: ‘It is appointed for men to die once’ There is no ‘reincarnation’ after death.”
Where do we get that?
Hebrews Ch 9
The rest of the Bible also points to that
We get ONE SHOT
ONE OPPORTUNITY
So what do we do?
We prepare ourselves for the hour of our death
By fasting and denying ourselves of certain things, we prepare ourselves for the hour of our death
BUT…
Ultimately by saying YES to God that is how we prepare ourselves for our death
By asking God to increase our LOVE for Him and our EXPECTATION and ANTICIPATION for seeing His Face
Paragraph 1014 says, “Every action of yours, every thought, should be of those of one who expects to die before the day is out. Death would have no great terrors for you if you had a quiet conscience…Then why not keep clear of sin instead of running away from death? If you are not fit to face death today, it is very unlikely you will be tomorrow…”
Those words are VERY CONVICTING
Why not be ready TODAY?
The time is NOW
RIGHT NOW GET READY FOR THE LORD TO COME BACK!!
RIGHT NOW GET READY TO SAY YES TO THE LORD!!
RIGHT NOW RETURN TO HIM WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART!!
This is the call that Jesus has for us
NONE of us are guaranteed tomorrow
ALL WE HAVE IS RIGHT NOW!!
“Lord God, help me. Help me to be ready to face death today. This might be my last day. And if it is, what would I need to do?”
If today was your last day, what would YOU do?
How would we live with an awareness of the preciousness and giftedness of this life?
How would we live with the desire to say, “God, I want to do your will completely today. Not partially. Not as minimally as possible. But I want to do your will completely today. This is the last chance I have to say YES to you. This is the last chance I have to LOVE like you.”
Some of us listening today this will end up being the last day
Let’s pause on that a second
So pray for each other
Pray that we are READY
Pray that we do not die in mortal sin
Pray that we are found in God’s most holy Will that the second death will not harm us
“For those who will die today, Lord God, we ask you to please be with them. Mary, please pray for them now and at the hour of their death and pray for us now and at the hour of our death. “
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!
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