The Holy Father Comforts Us

For Those Who Fear Death

" ‘Do not be afraid!’ When on the island of Patmos Jesus addresses this exhortation of John, he reveals his victory over the many fears that accompany men and women in their earthly existence and especially when they are faced with suffering and death. The fear of death also concerns the great unknown which it represents. Could it be a total annihilation of the human being? Do not the severe words: ‘For you are dust, and to dust you shall return’ (cf. Gn. 3:19) fully express the harsh reality of death? Thus, there are serious reasons to feel afraid when faced with the mystery of death.

"Contemporary civilization does all it can to distract human attention from the inescapable reality of death and tries to induce man to live as though death did not exist. And this is expressed practically in the attempt to turn the human person’s conscience away from God: to make the person live as though God did not exist! Nevertheless, the reality of death is obvious. It is impossible to silence it; it is impossible to dispel the fear associated with it.

"Man fears death just as he fears what comes after death. He fears judgment and punishment, and this fear has a saving value: it should not be eliminated. When Christ says: ‘Do not be afraid!’, he wants to respond to the deepest source of the human being’s existential fear. What Christ means is this: Do not fear evil, since in my Resurrection good has shown itself stronger than evil. My Gospel is victorious truth. Life and death met on Calvary in a stupendous combat and life proved victorious: ‘Dux vitae mortuus regnat vivus!’, ‘Once I was dead, but now I am alive for ever and ever’ (Rv. 1:18)."

"The risen Christ returns among us with the fullness of joy and with overflowing richness of life. Hope becomes certainty, because if he has conquered death, we too can hope to triumph one day in the fullness of time, in the period of the final contemplation of God."

"Our homeland is in heaven."

--Pope John Paul II