Simeon prayed: "Now, Master, You can dismiss Your servant in peace" (Lk 2:29). Simeon was ready to die because he had seen Christ.
St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was ready to die because shortly before his death he saw "an opening in the sky, and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand" (Acts 7:56).
Death is knocking at the door. Jesus also stands at the door of our lives and knocks (Rv 3:20). If we open the door, see Jesus, and give our lives to Him, we are ready to die and to live.
Jesus promised: "Blest are the single-hearted for they shall see God" (Mt 5:8). To see Jesus is not a matter of the eyes but of the heart (see Eph 1:18). When we see Jesus to be our Lord, Savior, and God, then we have a new life, a life stronger than death.
See Jesus. Love Jesus. Live in Jesus. Die in Jesus. Live forever in Jesus.
| PRAYER: | Father, enlighten "the eyes of my heart" (Eph 1:18, our transl). |
| PROMISE: | "When they hand you over, do not worry about what you will say or how you will say it. When the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say. You yourselves will not be the speakers; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you." –Mt 10:19-20 |
| PRAISE: | St. Kateri was baptized at age twenty and died at age twenty-four, attending Mass every day. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College