November 3

ow beautiful a thing it is, how blessed, not merely to face death without anxiety, but through the testimony of a good conscience to triumph gloriously in it! Then, alas, you will see people like me trembling, seeking a reprieve but not getting it, wishing to buy the oil of repentance for a lamenting conscience but finding that there is not enough time.

It belongs to our human condition, I know, to quail before the wrench of death, since even the perfect are unwilling to have the old body stripped off and would rather wish to have the new body put on over it; while those who are not conscious of any sin, knowing that they are not thereby justified, must dread the verdict of which they are still ignorant. Yet whether my distress of soul arises from my human feelings or from my falling short in holiness or from my fear of judgment, I can say with the righteous psalmist: You, O Lord, will be mindful of your mercy.

Be ready, then, O true Israel, to go and meet the Lord, ready not merely to open the door to him when he comes and knocks, but to run out eagerly and joyfully to meet him while he is still far off. Confident about the day of judgment, you may then pray with all your heart for the coming of his kingdom.

From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.

HTML text prepared by David P. Steelman