FoC 127: Thinking About Death with Hope Not Fear with Fr. Harrison Ayre

It’s Lent! And it looks like there’s a global pandemic coming our way! So we are getting very memento mori in today’s episode. We’re talking with Fr. Harrison Ayre, our very first Canadian guest, about (dun dun dun) death. We know Fr. Harrison from his great presence on Twitter, but he has more important things going on than crafting excellent tweets. Fr. Harrison is Pastor of Holy Family / Notre Dame Parish in Port Alberni, BC is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Theological Anthropology from the Maryvale Institute. He also co-hosts a great podcast called Clerically Speaking.

Yes this is an episode about death, but it’s not morbid or depressing, I promise! We dive into what it’s like for a priest to administer the sacraments in the most pivotal moments of our lives (baptisms, weddings, anointing of the sick) and to be on call 24/7 as a spiritual father. We talk about the practical side of supporting a dying loved one like when to call to ask a priest to visit the hospital. And we also talk about how to prepare for our own deaths. Fr. Harrison shares about the graces that God desires to pour into our hearts, especially as we face death, and how the sacraments are a beautiful opportunity to receive that grace. We finished this conversation more motivated to live holy lives and filled with hope! Fr. Harrison does a great job of acknowledging the gravity of death while reminding us that because Christ is victorious over death, we don’t have to be terrified. Christ is with us, even in death!

This is a timely and inspiring conversation. So get cozy for a good chat about death!

Things we talked about:

Pope Benedict XVI’s book on prayer

How to connect with Fr. Harrison:

* Twitter* Podcast

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