We will all stand before God one day

There is a traditional Irish song, “The Last Rose of Summer.” The words, describing the last flower in a Fall garden, are poetry set to beautifully plaintive music:

Tis the last rose of summer,
Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone;
No flower of her kindred,
No rose-bud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes
Or give sigh for sigh!

I’ll not leave thee, thou lone one.
To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
Go, sleep thou with them;
Thus kindly I scatter
Thy leaves o’er the bed,
Where thy mates of the garden
Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow,
When friendships decay,
And from love’s shining circle
The gems drop away!
When true hearts lie wither’d,
And fond ones are flown,
Oh! who would inhabit
This bleak world alone?

I recall speaking one November day with a lady who was looking at her faded and almost colorless garden. She sighed and said: “Ah, the glory that was May.” As nature begins to decline in these Autumn weeks, this time of year has a particular way of reminding us of our own mortality. It is appropriate that at this time of year the Church remembers the dead with All Saints Day and All Souls Day, and the country remembers the dead on Veterans Day.

In remembering our dead we also call to mind that all life has an end. This should not depress us but give us a better understanding of our lives. It should remind us that we are on a journey to the life God has prepared for us. As the Bible states: “Lord, teach me the brevity of life so that I may gain wisdom.” (Ps 90:12)

One of life’s hard truths is: “You are going to die.” As much as we try to avoid thinking of this, it will happen. Our contemporary society often tries to avoid any contemplation of our death. I have noticed during my years of priesthood how our funeral practices have changed from mourning the death of a loved one to more of a focus on the life the deceased has lived, and even to denying that death has occurred. I notice that the word “funeral” is often avoided now and we call it a “celebration of life.” Now I am not against celebrating the life someone has lived. Our memories of our loved ones are golden. These memories need to be recalled, shared, laughed about and cried over. But if all we do is celebrate the life someone has lived, we are in the words of St. Paul “The most pitiable of men.” (1 Cor 15:19)

We are not only to remember the life the person has lived but to remember the life they are living. We believe, as it is written in Genesis, we are created in the image and likeness of God. God, who is eternal, has created us to be just as He is, eternal. There is no moment from now into all of eternity that we will cease to exist.

We are all mortal and we are all going to stand before God one day. Jesus makes that very clear. To try to ignore or, even worse, deny this fact will be to our detriment. The Lord makes clear that there is day of judgment. Perhaps it may make us uncomfortable to speak about salvation and damnation but this comes from the words of the Lord Himself. This should not frighten us, rather it should help us to live our lives in a manner which gives God glory. One day, as a good steward, each of us will give back to God the life He has given to us to live and give an accounting of how we have lived this time on earth. May the realization of that fact give us the wisdom to guide our life here and now.