Thou Owest God a Death

One

“Thou Owest God a Death”

In Shakespeare’s play, Henry IV, part 1, two good friends are on the battlefield. One is prince Hal, the courageous heir to the throne. The other is his cowardly, boorish friend, Falstaff. Falstaff says he doesn’t want to be on the battlefield. He says he wants to be in bed.

And Prince Hal, trying to put some courage into him, says, “Why, thou owest God a death.” As though to say, “Look, you have this obligation, and you’re going to have to fulfill it sooner or later. So what ultimate difference does it make whether you get down to the business of dying today or tomorrow?”

But more importantly, presenting death as a debt to the Lord, as something He requires you to do for Him. That’s important because it shows that your death is a service to God, it’s a work you do for Him. 

That’s a good way to think of it. Because just as Christ did His Father’s will by dying, so do we do the Heavenly Father’s will by dying. Just as Christ was glorified by His Death, and ransomed the world from sin so does our death become our path to glorification and a ransom for sinners.

Two

Purification of Your Own Soul

God only asks us to do those things that are most conducive to our own happiness. So when He asks us to die in faith, peacefully, and without resentment or a panicky clinging to things of this earth He asks us to do that because it’s what will ultimately lead to our own happiness.

Death is not only the path to Heaven, it’s the final earthly process to purify us and make us fit for Heaven.

So many people are afraid to die, and they say things like, “I’m not ready. I’m not ready to meet the Lord.” As St. John Henry Newman says, people protest “How can I pray to see Christ, who am so unclean?” And Newman says, “You say well that you are unclean. But in what time do you propose to become otherwise? Do you expect in this life ever to be clean?... clean you never will be till you have paid the debt of sin, and lose that body which Adam has begotten.” 

Death brings us to God. Death, properly accepted, properly endured, faced with faith and abandonment to God’s mercy, death will prepare us for the endless joy of seeing God face to face.

Three

Sanctification of the Church

Jesus’ death saved souls and our death can save souls. There are a lot of stories out there of faithful Catholics who have offered their deaths for the conversion of loved ones. And guess what? Those loved ones did convert.

Christ was concerned for all our souls and so He went resolutely to that work which would save our souls. Our death, united with Christ, is one of the greatest tools for saving the souls of others. So if we really care about the souls of family and friends, why would we not be excited at the prospect of doing what is most efficacious in helping them spiritually?

Four

Anointing of the Sick

The Church knows that our death is that time when we can do the most towards our own sanctification and the sanctification of others. So the Lord has given us, through the Church, a sacrament to make sure we make the most of this last, great opportunity.

That sacrament is the Anointing of the Sick, to be given when our death might be immanent (whether due to sickness or old age). It confirms us in holiness and purity, “This last anointing fortifies the end of our earthly life like a solid rampart for the final struggles before entering the Father’s house” (CCC #1523). And it gives us the grace to make our death something that can save other souls. Those who receive this sacrament, “by freely uniting themselves to the passion and death of Christ contribute to the good of the people of God” (CCC 1522). 

We all owe God a death. But as always, if we give God what we owe Him, He will in turn transform our obligation to Him into a gift for us and those we love. This is what the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick offers.

Five

It’s Good to Pay off a Debt

As anybody with college loans or a mortgage or credit card debt, knows, it’s a really good feeling to pay off a debt. Most of us look forward to the day when we’ve paid off our big debts. Certainly Jesus did. He knew He had His Passion ahead of Him and instead of trying to put it off, He looked forward to it eagerly. In Luke 12:50, he said, “how distressed I am until it is accomplished.”

So too, the greatest debt we have is our obligation to die. “Thou Owest God a death!” Let’s look forward to the day when that debt will be paid. Let’s be excited at the prospect of having it behind us. And let’s be sure to have the sacrament of anointing when death comes so that when we have to render accounts, our death will have done as much as possible, by God’s grace, to cancel both our debts and the debts of those we love.