By Fr. Thomas G. Weinandy.

As I get older, I find myself thinking more about death. I no longer have my youthful spunk and stamina. I recognize that I am mortal. I will die. "Seventy is the sum of our years, or eighty for those who are strong." (Psalm 90). "As for man, his ways are like the grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more." (Psalm 103) "Lord, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is!" (Psalm 39) Because of the brevity of our lives, we must learn to "number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart." (Psalm 90)

Our lives may not be long, but each of us is to live it in accord with our particular vocation. "My son, hold fast to your duty, busy yourself with it, grow old while doing your task." (Sirach 11:20) As the Father's children, the glory of our lives is to grow old performing all of the various tasks that the Lord has given us to do. We are to beseech God: "Prosper the work of our hands! Prosper the work of our hands!" (Psalm 90)

Moreover, we must also remember that death is not the end. We live eschatological lives. Created in God's eternal image and likeness, we are to share in his immortality. We are to live forever. Sin brought with it, however, the curse of death. Nonetheless, God could not allow death to have the last word. Death is an affront to God. The eternal God is the God of life. He is the living God. He cannot tolerate death.

Thus, God sent His Son into the world. As the Word incarnate, Jesus proclaims the final word, and that word is: Arise! Through His sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus conquered sin and vanquished the curse of death through his glorious resurrection. Jesus' resurrection is the inbreaking of the eschaton - the making present here on earth of everlasting life. All who abide in him on earth, through faith and baptism, will abide in Him forever in Heaven.

"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life." (Romans 6:3-4)

There are two eschatological moments. The first is what has been traditionally called the particular judgment, which takes place when the soul of the deceased appears before God immediately upon death. At this moment the person is confronted with three possibilities: reaping the full benefits of a holy life, that is, eternal life with the blessed Saints in heaven; everlasting damnation by dying in a state of mortal sin; or proceeding to purgatory in order to be purified of the remnants of sin that still inhere within the soul.

The second eschatological moment is the final or universal judgment when the risen Jesus returns in glory and splendor at the end of time. At this moment, the dead will rise bodily from their graves and assume fully Jesus' bodily resurrection. Then, also, the whole of creation will find its eschatological end, for there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

"We know that the whole of creation is groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope, we have been saved." (Romans 8:22-23) We live "now," possessing of the first fruit of the Spirit, and "not yet," waiting for the full redemption our bodies. We live in hope.

We do not know how long we are to wait in hope, both as to our own individual death and as to when Christ will return in glory. It may appear, by our human reckoning, that it has already been a long time; and Jesus has yet to return. Therefore, "eagerly awaiting in expectation" may seem to be a waste of time. But it is precisely during this time of waiting in hope that we must always be prepared. As to ...