“DEATH awaits us; it is daily advancing towards us; we cannot escape its vengeance. The wages of sin is death: in these few words of Scripture, we are taught how death is not only universal, but even necessary; but we have all sinned. This, however, does not make the law less severe; nor can we help seeing a frightful disorder in the violent separation of soul and body, which were united together by God Himself. If we would truly understand death, we must remember that God made man immortal: this will explain the instinctive dread we have of death—a dread which one thing alone can conquer; and that is the spirit of sacrifice. In the death, then, of each one of us there is the handiwork of sin, and consequently a victory won by satan: nay, there would be a humiliation for our Creator Himself, were it not that, by sentencing us to this punishment, He satisfied His justice.
“This is man’s well-merited but terrible condemnation. What can he hope for? Never to die? It would be folly; the sentence is clear, and none may escape. Can he hope that this body, which is to become first a corpse, and then be turned into a mere handful of dust, will one day return to life, and be reunited to the soul for which it was made? But who could bring about the reunion of an immortal substance with one that formerly united with it, but has not seemingly been annihilated? And yet, O man! this is to be thy lot! Thou shalt rise again; that poor body of thine, which is to die, to be buried, forgotten, and humbled, shall be restored to life. Yes, it even now comes forth from the tomb, in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ; our future resurrection is accomplished in His; it is today that we are made as sure of our resurrection as we are of our death. This, too, makes part of our glorious Feast, our Pasch!”
— Dom Prosper Guéranger, Thursday in Easter Week
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