The Palm Sunday, we enter Holy Week leading to Passover and the celebration of the Paschal Mystery. Jesus, in dying as he did, transformed the finality of death into the gateway to eternal life. But it is not easy to remember this if we are separated from our loved ones and dying alone on a respirator. My own mother always feared dying alone. Thank God she did not have to. She died in my brother Frank’s home surrounded by family. I must admit I too share my mother’s primordial fear of dying alone. It is quite understandable. This is the terminal face of death.
From a faith point of view, the last laugh is on death, but no one is laughing. In this time of Covid19, it is all too serious and tragic. We are learning the depth and breadth of the meaning of pandemic, a word which was just a word before. Now it is something we will never forget, I hope.
Jesus died for us that we might live a new life, both in this world and forever. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” In the Apostle’s Creed we profess our faith in the communion of saints. There is not only new life after death, but that new life means that we remain in communion with those we have left behind and promises that we will be in communion with them forever.
Our faith teaches us not only that death leads to life and abiding communion with our loved ones (and the human race), but that in dying we join the Lord Jesus in his saving act for the world. Our deaths have meaning for the life of others. As his death was meaningful for others, ours is too, through his death and resurrection. No one’s death is meaningless. This is not only for followers of Jesus. We believe that Jesus died for everyone that everyone might have new life. We believe there is no one who in death bypasses the Merciful Lord Jesus on his or her way to eternal life. In saying this, I assure you I deeply respect the faith and convictions of all who believe differently. I am only expressing our belief that what Jesus did is a benefit for all now and into eternity.
I’ve been thinking of Takashi Nagai and his beautiful book A Song for Nagasaki. He was a pioneer in radiology and a convert to Catholicism and was near ground zero on August 9, 1945 when the second atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki. He ministered to many survivors and eventually years later radiation took his life. He helped the people to understand that their sacrifice would be life-giving to the human race. Never again use a nuclear weapon on people. In God’s design, everything eventually gives life.
Live or die during this pandemic, let us remember we are always in the presence of God, who transforms death into life and communion. On Easter Sunday morn we will exchange the beautiful words: “The Lord is Risen!” responding, “Truly he is risen!”
Hugh O’Donnell CM
