Why would I want to tell you about death? Because death is very much on my mind this week as a dear friend of mine is close to death. I know people who lead a very holy life and do not fear death. They welcome death as a moment of transition between human and supernatural life. But even holy people will never assume they'll enter heaven automatically. Heaven is a blissful state of total and eternal adoration of God. There is no money in the world that can buy eternal life. There is only one way to get to heaven—refrain from sin 100%, love God and your neighbor as yourself.
What gives us some comfort is the knowledge that God has mercy and compassion. Saint Faustina's diary of her conversations with Jesus and Mary make this very clear. You see, Jesus gives us time to improve and He never asks anything of us that we cannot accomplish. However, never for one minute make the assumption that "Jesus understand me" (when habitually sinning). Yes He does, but not in the self-serving way you think He does. He knows us better than we know ourselves; He is aware of everything we have done and will do. He died on the Cross for us, for the redemption of our sins. And, consequently, it is through death that we'll finally see Him. Prepare for that moment now. Don't wait until you're at death's doorstep. If your act needs cleaning up, start right now!
Recently, we celebrated Thanksgiving. This is a very secular feast. We hope you thought about thanksgiving in a religious or spiritual sense rather than about attacking the turkey at the dinner table. We do not really begin to understand, I think, the meaning of thanksgiving because we have everything and think this is matter of fact. I experienced World War II as a child in Holland, and the years afterwards were not easy either. Frequently there was no heat and no food on the table. When friends came in with something to eat and some coal for the stove, we were very grateful. What I'm trying to say is—you may not realize how blest you are unless there was something lacking in your life before, which now is present! There is some connection between dying and having less or nothing. God has a way to use these situations so that we may get the opportunity to prove to Him how much we love Him. When we're down and out and come to Him with humility and meekness and ask Him for His help He will help and we should be grateful. We know that in order to show we love God we need to detach ourselves from the material world and get out of our comfort zone. If you live close to Our Lord you will receive eternal life.