One of the parishioners at St. Antony's is approaching death from a long illness. He's receiving comfort care in a local nursing home and is no longer responsive to voices. He's at peace, but for his family, it's a very difficult time.
The Epistle for Sunday has some words of hope. Paul, near the end of his life, is writing from prison. He writes that he is torn between living and dying. He wants to die, he says, because then he would be with Christ. But he also feels a need to stay alive to help the Philippians with their new faith.
"I am hard pressed between the two," he writes. "My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you."
Paul is not afraid of death; in fact he's looking forward to it as the consummation and victory of his life. "Dying is gain," he says.
I hope we'll all be able to embrace such a view when we're near death. When we have a deep and abiding faith, death, when it comes, is much more grace-filled and beautiful. We have a lot to learn from Paul in this matter.
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