As I was writing last week, my wife’s mother was dying. She died Sunday morning, at 95, after a long and full life. It was a good death, to use an unfortunately old-fashioned phrase, but death is still death. One effect, as many of you will understand, is to make me think more about death Read more
As he turns 88, Pope emeritus Benedict XVI is prayerfully preparing to meet the Lord. In an interview with an Italian television station, the retired Pope’s private secretary Archbishop Georg Ganswein mentioned Benedict’s ongoing dialogue of prayer. Archbishop Ganswein told Mediaset’s La strada dei miracoli programme, “It is clear that a man who soon will turn 88 Read more
The seductive nature of the modern world allows us as human beings to believe we are in charge. In today’s world we think we are in charge. Technological advances and intellectual knowledge we continue to acclaim, leaves us with the sense that we are in control and that there is enough time to achieve what it Read more
The funeral procession was lengthy that late January day, crawling down the parkway. I was at the intersection, stalled between errands and an afternoon of teaching; counting the minutes, wondering how many cars the cortege numbered. I knew what was coming, just around the corner. After Groundhog Day and Valentine’s: Ashes. The crush of pitch Read more
There has been a massive outpouring of grief for Australian batting star Phil Hughes, who died having never regained consciousness after being hit on the top of the neck by a bouncer during an interstate game last Tuesday. The youth and promise of the cricketing star, who was by all accounts an extremely likeable young Read more
Seeing Australia from outside the island continent offers some very strange views from time to time. The outpouring of grief over the tragic accident that took the talented life of cricketer Phillip Hughes went global within a very short time. The home of cricket – England – was profuse in the time devoted to this Read more
For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate Read more
For as far back as I can remember, I have been preoccupied with what it will be like to die. As a girl, I would often zone out on my bed, or at my desk in school, imagining that I was on the verge of death, and trying on a range of possible reactions: terror, Read more
I used to have a strange, very naive idea that I would be closely united with my father after his death. I know that we are united with the communion of saints, and that death no longer separates us (Romans 8:38-39). I believe we can pray to the saints, and even pray to and pray Read more
There will come a day, perhaps sooner, perhaps later, when the man in the coffin will be me. They say the dead don’t care, but I’m not dead yet, so as long as I’m still alive, I’d like to have some say in what goes on at my funeral. And, truth be told, I think Read more