An intriguing phone call came in from a nursing home asking me to come see a man, but the caller didn't think the patient was doing poorly. Knowing the patient, I thought, "Hm, something's going on." So I begged off from a spiritual direction session with someone and trudged off to the nursing home. This man is well into his 90's and has lived a faith-filled life. Rather quickly he told me that he had been dreaming/thinking of suicide and found it very unsettling. While talking about what dying is like, I told him that when we draw close to death there are certain temptations we go through, and temptations are not sins. We face a temptation to despair because the dying process is so very difficult. We face a temptation to give in to impatience because the process of dying is so drawn out. We face the temptation of greed (believe it or not) in the sense of wanting to control our possessions and who gets what. These temptations are ways the tempter tries to derail us from the true object of our desires: the Lord Jesus whom we are soon to meet. These temptations are fought by calling upon the Lord Jesus. So, I told him: When these temptations come, say, "In the name of Jesus, begone evil spirit!" And great peace came upon him. It's moments like these that make being a priest so chock full of grace.
Comments