His Words and His Mercy Endure Forever

None of us knows when we will die. 

We receive every moment of every day as a gift from God for the fulfillment of our own vocations. Each of us is a unique person, a mystery whose life is held by the wisdom and goodness and mercy of God. 

The moment of death--that final moment in the history of our becoming "who we are"--is also God's gift, designed to correspond to the fulfillment of the unique calling that each of us has received. It is the passage to the whole encounter with the Destiny that defines every moment of our lives.

In Jesus that Destiny embraces our death from within, becomes a presence within its solitude, and transforms it into a moment of hope and self-abandoning love. What might otherwise seem like the loss of "myself" becomes, in union with Jesus, a moment to give myself over wholly to the Father in complete trust.

The inevitable horizon of death encourages us to live every moment in trusting self-abandonment, in union with the One who said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."

A meditation such as this can certainly be a great source of spiritual encouragement. But I won't deny that, most of the time, I feel overwhelmed and afraid in front of death and all its mysteries. What can I do?

Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.

I'm afraid.

Jesus, I can only abandon my fear to you. And I'm not sure I even know what it means to "abandon" anything to you, or whether I'm "doing it right."

I have to give that to you too, Lord. I abandon the "abandoning" to you.

Take over, Jesus. Carry me. Mother Mary, hold on to me.

Jesus, your words will never pass away. And your word is the promise of the Father's love and mercy. Jesus, I trust in you!