‘For the just there is no death, but transition’ (St. Athanasius).
How beautiful it would be if we understood this reality better day by day! Indeed, it is like this: if we have centred our life on our Heavenly Father and serve Him with sincerity, death will be the return to our Father’s house, who is waiting for us. And each day that passes in our earthly life brings us closer to eternity.
‘O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?’ – we exclaim at Easter as we celebrate the victory of our Lord. Saint Athanasius, who rendered such great service to the Church and played a decisive role in overcoming the heresy of Arianism, delights us with another phrase proclaiming the victory of Jesus: ‘The Risen Christ turns the life of men into an uninterrupted celebration of faith’.
Thus, according to the saint’s words, our death is a transition, a return home, towards which our whole life must be oriented. This certainty in no way makes us indifferent to earthly life, but very vigilant, for we have to fulfil the task assigned to us. How could we carry it out better than with our eyes fixed on the Father, who gives us all the graces necessary for this? Let us listen to what St. Paul says: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14).
The more we run towards the goal, the more our life is focused on eternity and permeated by God, the more we will lose our fear of our last enemy: death. We can even rejoice at the prospect of death, which becomes a transition for us, without losing our vigilance to fulfil our mission on earth.