DEATH, BE NOT PROUD!

A REFLECTION FOR THE 15TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

On the other side of this bulletin you will find one of the Holy Sonnets written by 17^th century English poet John Donne.  The first line, admonishing “Death” not to feel so proud of itself, captures its quintessential theme.  Despite its reputation for being “mighty and dreadful”, Death is actually nothing more than a sad imitation of the sleep we experience every night, and when it strikes, we go through the same basic motions, laying our body down, closing our eyes, falling into a state of unconsciousness, and then waking up to a new eternal day.  We will actually derive as much pleasure from Death as we do from a good night’s sleep.  In fact, this “mighty and dreadful” Death will be vanquished by our very experience of it.

Despite the subject matter of Donne’s sonnet, he chooses not to touch on the supernatural aspects of death.  However, the very concept of Death must force us to do so.  It is the first of the Four Last Things, Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell.  It is the obligatory gateway through which we all must pass in order to achieve the others.  We are not yet judged in this life.  Nor do our earthly joys reach to the level of those in heaven, nor our sorrows to what we would experience in hell.  First we must die, and only then may we kneel before the judgment seat of the most high God and learn which of the two shall be our everlasting fate.  That moment will be one of either great relief or terrible despair, but until we actually die, we are blissfully free to choose for ourselves which it will be.

To contemplate Death, therefore, is the strongest motivation for us to examine our life.  When we awaken from our last sleep of Death, will our eyes open to a kind and gentle Saviour extending his hand to us and commanding us to “Arise?”  Or will we see a stern Judge in all his splendor frowning in displeasure at his unrepentant creature, and hear instead the appalling command for us to “Depart” from him.  Think often, therefore, on Death, and fear it only if you truly need to.  Otherwise, Death is our friend and we should examine it with the eyes of faith, benefiting from its power to motivate us that we may eschew evil and do good.

In today’s Gospel, our Lord raises the son of the Widow of Nain from the dead.  He does so to show us that Death is not the permanent state we often imagine it to be.  When we lose someone to Death, let us not be like the pagans who do not believe in the Resurrection!  Instead, let us console ourselves with the thought that, by the grace of a good life and a holy death, the day will come when we will all rise again to be reunited in heaven.   Or as John Donne so succinctly expresses it: “Death, thou shalt die!”