As we prepare for this supreme moment of our death, when we must appear before our Savior and our Judge, wisdom teaches us that it is essential to consider His own death, and to realize that he went through that for us. Yet, in a very real way, each of us can say, “He did that for me!” He calls us to follow Him, and dwelling on His mysteries by a continual reading of the four Gospels will imbue our very lives with the consideration of His entire life, and especially His Passion and Death. Ideally, this process begins early in life. Unless we experience serious illness in our youth, it is a frequent thing for people to live as if this life will never end, and much in contemporary society reinforces this attitude. Rather than fret about this, and becoming distracted by the ills of the world, it is better to look at the inevitability of our death, but always with Christ, looking to what He has done for us and seeking better to cultivate a spirit of child-like trust in Him.
A good practice to help develop such trust is to strive daily to become more grateful for the good things the Lord has showered upon us. Many of us, given a day where ten good things happen to us, and one negative thing, will focus on the negative. This is our nature, and it distracts us from focusing on necessary things: doing God’s will; cooperating with His grace and working out our salvation with a holy fear of the last things.
