“Tempus fugit, memento mori”, which translates to “time is fleeting, remember death”, is the motto of the fraternal organization the Knights of Columbus, yet the phrase and the practice of reflecting on death has its origins far deeper in human history and the Church. After the Fall, man was reminded of the disastrous consequence of sin: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19 RSVCE). In the Catholic Church, we recall this phrase every Ash Wednesday, where our foreheads are smeared with ashes as a reminder of our eventual death. But Ash Wednesday is not the only time we remember our death; the amount of Catholic prayers for the dead, feast days remembering saints and martyrs (especially All Saints day and All Souls Day!), and the numerous portrayals of death in Catholic art and architecture make it clear that this is not supposed to be a one-time occurrence. 

So why are we called to dwell on something so morbid? The Catechism states that “Death is the end of man’s earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers him so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate destiny” (CCC 1013). We only have a limited amount of time to live on this earth, and this knowledge can lead us down either one of two paths. The first, for those with a strictly materialistic outlook, is to try to put death off as long as we can, and to get all the pleasure possible out of life before our end inevitably catches up to us. The second option, for those who share the Catholic viewpoint of life after death, is to spend the time we have on earth preparing for our ultimate destiny in Heaven.

We are called to live in the world, but not be of it; to set our minds “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2 RSVCE). Despite this, or perhaps because of it, we can often experience strong temptation to join in the fruitless materialism of modern culture, forsaking our Heavenly treasure in order to store up things for ourselves on Earth. This is not what we were made for, however, and it will not make us happy in the end! Reflecting on our death reminds us that we are finite creatures, and will one day have to give an account to God of how we spent our lives. Are we living every aspect of our lives in a way that glorifies Him, or do we waste time pursuing things that are not good for us and were never meant to be our final end? The prayer of young St Augustine reflects an attitude which is scarily easy to fall into sometimes: “Give me chastity and continency, only not yet!” (Confessions, 8). We want to be holy, but we can often get so caught up in our other desires that our desire to follow Christ gets put off further and further from our list of priorities. Living in a culture obsessed with staring at screens can make prioritizing God even harder, but we must try. We cannot put off changing our life until next month, next week, or even tomorrow, because we don’t know how many tomorrows we have left. This is a daunting prospect, but fortunately God knows that it isn’t easy; Jesus also faced temptation, and He instituted the Sacrament of Confession to give us the grace we need to overcome sin and distraction. We just need to take advantage of the graces He offers!

Modern culture treats death as a scary thing. The holiday of Halloween is full of witches, demons, ghosts, monsters, and all sorts of other frightful creatures that originate from a fear of death and dying. However, if our conscience is clean, death is actually not scary at all! St Paul writes that “for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21 RSVCE). If our lives are devoted to following Christ, then we have nothing to fear from death; so long as we die in a state of grace, we shall be united to God in Heaven! The Catholic holidays of All Saints Day and All Souls Day immediately following Halloween reflect this belief by reminding us that the triumph of the saints is something we can look forward to as well, and encouraging us to grow in holiness and selflessness by praying for those who have not yet reached Heaven. 

During this week, especially on All Saints Day and All Souls Day, I encourage you to reflect on how you are spending your time. If you find yourself unhappy with the results, this is a perfect opportunity to go to Confession and receive God’s infinite mercy and grace to grow closer to Him! As the Church prepares to enter into a period of deep reflection in the weeks leading up to Christmas, remember in all things that you were not made for this present life, and let that knowledge reflect in your actions!

A good opportunity to reflect on one’s life and death is to read the Divine Comedy by Dante, or at least the first book, the Inferno. The Mark Musa translation has decent annotations which are good at explaining the symbolism of the text. CCC 992 to 1050 is also a good place to start! I am praying for each one of you, and I hope you have a very blessed week. Happy All Saints Day!