From the Friars: Sister Death

Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. We begin Lent with a reminder of the reality of death and the fact that our bodies will decompose, if they are not reduced to ashes by cremation. When God created the first man, He formed his body from the dust of the earth and breathed life into his nostrils (Gen 2:7). This is symbolic of the infusion of the soul into the body at the conception of every new human person. The soul is the life principal of the body, it holds it together we could say. Therefore, when the soul leaves the body at death, it loses its source of unity and literally falls apart.

Modern science can give us a detailed explanation of physical death of the decomposition of the human body. But there is more happening than meets the eye, or the telescope. There are countless testimonies of people who have experienced a “temporary” death and living beyond the limits of the body. Our faith is not based on such experiences, but they support the revealed truth that the soul is immortal and physical death is a temporary separation.

As always, God is teaching us about higher spiritual realities by means of the material and visible. St. Paul writes of the mystical body of Christ in his letters to the Romans and Corinthians. The Holy Spirit unites the members of the Church into one body with Jesus as our Head. The Holy Spirit is to the Church what the soul is to the body. This is the plan of God from all eternity, to unite all things in Jesus, under His Headship (cf. Eph 1:10). Only sin can separate us from Him.

Remember that you are dust, that you will die. But during these coming weeks we are preparing to celebrate Jesus’ victory over death. Lent is a time to unite ourselves more closely to Him, Who is Our Life. If we do so, there is no reason to fear physical death. In fact, we can say with St. Francis: “Welcome Sister Death!” Because “to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21)

A blessed and fruitful Lent to all.

–Fr. Peter