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Dear Robert,
I just read your posts from several years ago about praying to die. I too pray to die---probably not for the same reasons. I am not unhappy in this life, but until I started to pray for death, I constantly worried about family finances and my family's salvation. We lost a large amount of money and have 2 children to get through college in the next 4 years. I am the only devout Catholic in my immediate family. My husband and son have rejected the faith and my eldest son still attends
Mass---albeit sporadically.
So I took out some extra life insurance and started praying to die sometime in the next few years---preferably in a manner that does not cause any more financial trauma to my family. I also pray to die and just get to purgatory (cuz I'm sure I'm not fit for heaven) and pray for my family's salvation there because I feel like I must be a bad Catholic role model for my husband and son to have rejected the faith. I would probably be much better at praying for them while in purgatory and not earth. So God permitting, in my limited human thinking, I think this would be a good solution to 2 problems---family finances and family salvation.
However, I always add a "thy will be done" to the prayer. God may want me to stay here another 100 years. I feel much better since I've started praying this prayer. And I still take my vitamins.
You are very blessed, Robert. I was just reading in one of the sermons of St. Alphonsus that it is a very virtuous thing to look favorably upon one's death. St. Alphonsus gave a number of excellent reasons why we should welcome our death (I thought of the thread you started and even wanted to send you part of the sermon). I too can't wait to be with God. I don't think many people look at death as a good thing though, probably because they are afraid of God's judgement and hell ... or probably because they adore this world so much. Pope Benedict points out in Spe Salvi that if we didn't have death we'd be in our corrupt bodies for all eternity. Wouldn't it be awful to remain in a fallen state for all eternity? I wish people would stop clinging to the things of this world and would look favorably upon the things that really matter. I loved hearing from you, Robert. Please, let us keep in touch.
Thanks so much for thinking of me! You made my day!
I'm glad you are well. I hope you had a beautiful Divine Mercy Sunday. I went to confession and Mass on that special feast day to obtain the promise Jesus gave to St. Faustina. You've heard of this special promise, right? I absolutely love this feast day because of Jesus' promise! He is so generous and merciful!
I think it's great that you have a PhD. It's even greater that you turned to religion. I did the same thing, though with only a Bachelor's degree and some graduate couses behind me.
I was just thinking of you and an old post we were both on a long time ago. I just wanted to say that I was wrong to say that we need to become "friends" with the world to convert people. I was wrong to use the word "world" - I should have used the word "people" instead. We befriend "people," not the "world," to convert them. That's what I had meant to say in my post. I just read last night while I was reading St. Teresa of Jesus' "The Way of Perfection" that we can never be friends with the world. I understand her statement, as the world and God are incompatible. You spoke real truth in the thread I am thinking about and I am sorry if I had thrown you off a bit with my confused statement.
It is so nice hearing from you!!! I have been well, thank you! I've been devoting a lot of time to prayer and spiritual reading and am doing more penances. I'm trying to enter the "narrow gate" so when I die I will go straight to heaven! I haven't been seeing any of your posts lately...I'm glad you are still with us on CAF. I truly enjoyed reading your posts back when we were on the same thread together. How are you, my friend? I hope all is well.
, i hope you are having a great day robert..?
