Hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For Christ, while we were still helpless,
died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Secular aheism presents itself as patiently tolerant of religious belief, and confidently expects all religions to collapse, despite the recent advances of Islam and Catholicism. That patient tolerance also ignores the increase of hopelessness as millions of people face old age and death without a plausible reason for their life in the first place. Secularists don't care if you live or die, especially if you have no passionate desire for their causes.
They challenge us with our own questions: What do we live for if not for God? In the face of certain death, why do we live at all? Many men and women may find reasons to go on living for a while. They want to see something happen like the maturity of their children or the achievement of certain ambitions like a trophy home. They have buckets for their to-do list. But when they're accomplished -- what?
Realistically, we can expect only the increase of physical discomforts and chronic illness as our bodies age. But a secular world demands a painless death, preferably at a moment of their choice; and with the support of sympathetic friends who will, in their own time, drink the kool-aid. We watch with dismay the advance of "assisted suicide." In 2024, 5.1% of all deaths in Canada were attributed to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID).
Is it too soon to sound the alarm: "They're coming for you. You'd better have a good excuse for your being?"
How does the Christian answer such questions? What excuse can I offer for my being? Many priests want to live so long as they can be of service, but many also are content to reside in nursing homes with little or no opportunity to share the Sacraments with anyone. Many bedridden Catholics receive the Blessed Sacrament when it's offered by volunteer ministers. And some say they wake up each morning disappointed that they did not die in the night.
Our faith gives everyone of us -- the old and the young, the healthy and infirm -- a reason for living. To use the Jesuit expression, "Ad majorem gloria dei!" (For the greater glory of God!)
"God wills it" is all the reason one needs for living.
Saint Paul points the way as he found meaning in his incarceration:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church....
We are here to fulfill the two great commandments: we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and we love our neighbor as ourselves. Christians are eager to assist the sick, aging, debilitated, and dying even as they generously accept help from others. No one lives alone, and no one should die alone -- despite the atheist's myth of individuality! While we live we live for the Lord, and when we die we die as his servants. Anything less is cowardice.
In the love of God and one another we find all the meaning and purpose that we need.
