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The Cardinal’s Column

Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.

During the 40 days of Lent, the practices of fasting, prayer and almsgiving help us to die to self in order to live in Christ. We can see Christ in others if we are of one mind and heart with him ourselves.

Becoming like Christ in this life prepares us also to meet him in the next. But between our encounter with Christ now, in others, in the sacraments, in Holy Scripture and our meeting him in eternal life comes the event of our bodily death.

Saints have “practiced” the moment that would bring this life to an end in order to be able to surrender themselves freely and completely to the Lord in death. Lent is such a “practice.”

By dying to ourselves in small ways during Lent, we prepare for the final and total self-surrender that our death will bring. When we die in Christ, we die as Christ died: “Before he was given up to death, a death he freely accepted…” (Eucharistic Prayer II).

Considerations about death are morbid for some, dismaying for others.

Most of the common preparations for death attempt to control it in some fashion. By making a will, we dispose of our material goods when we can no longer make use of them. Our “will” thus extends its influence beyond our death. By giving advanced instructions for our health care when we might be unconscious, we again exercise control when we can no longer make decisions ourselves.

Death, however, is, by definition, complete loss of subjective control of our lives. Giving up control in death can be seen as a surrender to God for believers or as a slide into nothingness for those who believe this present life is the only life we have.

The forgiveness of sin that we ask for during Lent, especially in making a good confession and receiving absolution, brings with it the hope of eternal life. Death is the consequence of sin.

“Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death…” (Rom 5:12).

Experiencing the complete forgiveness of our sins opens for us a life in God’s good graces, here and in eternity. Tasting the infinite love of God, knowing we are one with him here, strengthens our confidence that we will live with him forever. Christ’s self-sacrifice that makes forgiveness of our sins possible gives us every reason to live in hope and to face death squarely. If one is mired in sin, then it is more likely that he or she will run from death and search for distractions of all sorts in order to hide from it.

If we live in Christ now, then we will not die alone. In life and in death, we are accompanied by him and by all those whom he loves, including the angels and the saints of all the ages. In this context, making a will is an act of charity and giving advanced instructions for health care is a way of conforming our desires to God’s will for us.

In recent months, the Holy See has clarified once again that the Christian community cannot permit an unconscious person to be deliberately killed. Nor can one give instructions that amount to passive euthanasia by withdrawing food and water when the body can still be nourished by them. In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Jesus gives us a glimpse of the last judgment: “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty...and not minister to your needs? Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me” (Mt. 25:46).

Decisions about one’s health care should one lose consciousness before dying cannot be completely worked out in detail by anyone in anticipation. Written instructions, therefore, might be less helpful to caregivers than giving the power of attorney for healthcare to someone who can be trusted to make decisions in the light of our common faith and out of personal love for the patient.

In our death, as in our funeral and burial, we remain part of the community of faith, a community based upon trust that others will care for us because they love us with Christ’s own love.

Community forms one’s conscience. If one’s individual, subjective judgment were alone to determine what is morally right, then whoever has legal or economic power could impose his positions on others. But morality is neither arbitrary nor subject to the whim or the will of the powerful.

A good conscience makes morally upright judgments that enable us to act always in accordance with God’s will for his people and for each of us personally. A subjective conscience is not the source of moral truth; only in the recognition of an objective moral truth to which all are bound can we live together and help each other to die well.

Lent is a time to prepare for death and to pray for a good death, to seek forgiveness of our sins and to develop a correct conscience.

Have a good Lent.