The Pilgrim's Rule
Chapter 15
Death: The Last Lesson of the Body
It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.
From the hour of his creation, man begins a journey whose final earthly step is known to every child of Adam.
No king has escaped it.
No beggar has been overlooked by it.
The learned and the simple, the strong and the weak, the young and the old alike pass beneath its shadow.
Death is the last lesson the body teaches the soul.
The body has instructed the pilgrim from the beginning of this book.
Its hunger taught him to seek righteousness.
Its thirst reminded him of the living God.
Its breath proclaimed the continual gift of life.
Its heart spoke of ordered love.
Its eyes, ears, tongue, hands, and feet each revealed some path toward holiness.
Its bones taught the necessity of doctrine.
Its blood revealed the hidden life of .
Its wounds called him to repentance.
Its healing manifested divine mercy.
Its sleep invited him to trust in Providence.
Now the body speaks one final time.
Its voice is silent.
Its lesson cannot be ignored.
The body that once ran now lies still.
The hands that labored no longer move.
The eyes that gazed upon creation are closed.
The heart has completed its final beat.
The breath returns to Him Who first bestowed it.
Thus the Creator teaches that this earthly pilgrimage was never intended to last forever.
How faithfully the body has served the soul.
It has carried it through childhood and maturity, through joy and sorrow, through labor and rest, through sickness and health. It has borne the marks of time with quiet , asking only the ordinary necessities appointed by God.
Yet it was never meant to be the pilgrim's permanent dwelling.
Even while full of life, the body bears signs that it is passing.
The child grows.
The young become mature.
Strength reaches its fullness and then slowly declines.
The hair whitens.
The step becomes measured.
The face bears the history of years.
Without speaking a word, the body gently reminds its owner that another homeland awaits.
The world strives to hide this lesson.
It adorns what is passing as though it were permanent.
It fears the very thought of death because it has forgotten the purpose of life.
Yet the faithful pilgrim does not meditate upon death in order to become sorrowful.
He remembers it in order to become wise.
For what is more reasonable than to prepare for that which is certain?
The traveler who knows the day of his departure carefully gathers what is necessary for the journey.
Only the foolish delay until the hour has already come.
So too the Christian learns to live every day beneath the light of eternity.
He does not become anxious.
He does not despair.
Rather, he strives to keep his soul always prepared, knowing neither the day nor the hour when the Master shall call him.
Death is not merely an ending.
For the faithful, it is also a meeting.
The soul shall stand before its Creator.
The veil of earthly life shall be removed.
Faith shall give place to sight.
Every hidden intention shall be revealed.
Every labor offered for God shall receive its true measure.
Nothing done for love of Christ shall be forgotten.
Here the pilgrim must remember with holy seriousness the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. Death ends the time of earthly trial. Judgment manifests the truth of the soul before God. Heaven is the eternal possession of God for those who die in His and friendship. Hell is the everlasting loss prepared not by any failure of divine mercy, but by final impenitence and separation from God. Purgatory also witnesses to the mercy and of God, purifying those who die in yet still require cleansing before entering the vision of His holiness.
These truths are not meant to terrify the faithful into despair.
They are meant to awaken them from illusion.
How differently the pilgrim judges the passing years when viewed from this horizon.
The honors sought by the world grow strangely small.
Its praises quickly fade.
Its possessions remain behind.
Only what has been done for God accompanies the soul beyond the grave.
Even suffering receives another meaning.
The illness endured.
The faithfully resisted.
The hidden sacrifice.
The unnoticed act of .
The prayer whispered in solitude.
These become treasures that neither rust nor time can destroy.
The body itself shall not remain forever in the grave.
The Christian does not despise the body because it dies.
He reverences it because it has been fashioned by God, redeemed by Christ, and sanctified for His service.
The earth receives it only as a sacred trust.
On the last day, when the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall rise, the body shall once again be united to the soul.
What was sown in corruption shall be raised according to the and wisdom of God.
Thus the grave is not the pilgrim's destination.
It is the final resting place before the resurrection.
The faithful therefore need not fear death as those who have no hope.
He may tremble before judgment, knowing his own weakness.
He may grieve the separation from those he loves.
But beneath both fear and sorrow there remains an unshaken confidence in the mercy of God and the promises of Christ.
The pilgrim has spent his life learning from the body.
At last the body itself directs him beyond all earthly lessons.
It points toward the eternal homeland where hunger shall be satisfied, thirst forever quenched, wounds perfectly healed, labor rewarded, and every brought to its fullness in the vision of God.
There, the pilgrim shall no longer walk by faith but by sight.
There, every lesson learned upon the road shall blossom into perfect understanding.
There, the City of God shall no longer be sought from afar, for its faithful citizens shall dwell within its everlasting peace.
Blessed is the pilgrim who has learned well the lessons written by the Creator into his own body.
For when the final hour comes, he shall surrender it peacefully into the hands of God, confident that He Who fashioned man from the dust shall also raise him in glory according to His holy promise.
For Meditation
Do I remember each day that my earthly life is a pilgrimage toward eternity?
Have I ordered my daily labors in the light of the judgment to come?
Do I value the treasures of Heaven more than the passing honors of this world?
Do I remember Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell, and the purification of Purgatory with the seriousness and hope of the Catholic Faith?
If Christ were to call me today, would my soul be prepared to meet Him?
Rule for the Pilgrim
Remember often the certainty of death, not with fear, but with hope.
Live each day in the state of , fulfill faithfully the duties God has entrusted to you, and keep your heart fixed upon the eternal City.
Prepare for judgment by repentance, for Heaven by , for Purgatory by present purification, and against Hell by persevering in the and mercy of Christ.
Then, when your pilgrimage is complete, the last lesson of the body shall become the first joy of everlasting life.