Is Untimely Death an Injustice?

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

Is Untimely Death an Injustice
By His Grace, Bishop Athenagoras Cavadas
[Founding Dean of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox

Do we believe in Divine PROVIDENCE? PROVIDENCE is a Doctrine of our Orthodox faith. It is an INVIOLABLE TEACHING OF OUR CHURCH THAT GOD, THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, IS ITS GOVERNOR. He PROVIDES and SUSTAINS the world and directs it to its FINAL PURPOSE. The same is taught by the Church concerning man, i.e., that GOD PROVIDES FOR MAN AND, INDEED, ESPECIALLY FOR HIM. For this reason, the Holy Scripture requires THAT WE ASK GOD’S HELP ALONG THE ENTIRE ROAD OF OUR LIFE. And this is also THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER WHEN IT IS NOT ONLY TO GLORIFY GOD.

The Holy Apostle Peter in his First Epistle says:
“Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares for
you” [1 Peter 5:7].

In the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew, we read:
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them
will fall to the ground without your Father’s will. But even the
HAIRS OF YOUR HEAD ARE ALL NUMBERED. FEAR NOT,
therefore; YOU ARE MORE OF VALUE THAN MANY SPARROWS”
[Matthew 10:29-31].

This should be enough, I imagine, to prove THAT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THE LIVES OF HUMANS HAPPENS FOR SOME PURPOSE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. And since it happens by the will of Divine Providence, this purpose assuredly MUST BE FOR THE GOOD OF THE PERSON FOR WHOM THEY ARE DONE BECAUSE DIVINE PROVIDENCE NEVER INTENDS TO DO EVIL.

Certainly this good is not always limited only to the life of a person on earth; it also concerns THE LIFE OF THE SOUL. Divine Providence tests the earthly life of persons for their benefit. The greater that the good is for the soul which Divine Providence aims, SO MUCH THE GREATER THE TRIAL CAN BE. Indeed, such a trial could reach the point of death, either of the person for whose soul Divine Providence is working, or of another person whose death might possibly serve the life of the souls of others.

And since we have set down this teaching of our Church as a precept, let us return now to the question: “Why does God allow the untimely death in the early life of a person?” And now the answer is: “With an untimely death, Divine Providence looks to the good of the life of the soul of such a person, or to the life of the souls of those persons who are dear to him.” Who knows the future, to be sure, in one or another untimely death of a loved one. Death, under some horrible, difficult, and painful circumstances would be considered as most charitable.

“If untimely death is horrible, cruel, and unjust,” we have the answer that for the devout, not only is it not such but, on the contrary, it is a desirable terminal to which the devout souls, with a justified hopeful expectancy, look forward to reach as soon as possible, as the Apostle Paul says in his Epistle to the Philippians:

“My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far
better” [Philippians 1:23].

For the impious, however, and those worthy of punishment in general, truly death is horrible, a very unwanted visitor, an inexorable avenger. But, in this case, the question again arises: Is it not absolutely justified that people fear death which for them is a horrible matter? Are not the lamentations, wailing, and sobbing of persons justified who love those that have died, since, indeed, it is a known fact that the punishable persons are more than the devout? The answer is a great NO. They would be justified for this:
a. if each person who will be condemned was preordained beforehand for Hell, regardless of his will
and his actions;
b. if the demands of the merit-worthy life was greater than those
that a person was able to do; and
c. if every sin of man, every straying of his life, was not subject to
correction in this world be irreparably condemned, no matter how
much he repented.

a. MAN IS A MORALLY FREE BEING

The life here on earth is A TESTING OF THE SOUL, an education and preparation of the spiritual existence of a person. It would be of no value since we have moral laws and try to practice them if the effort and the sacrifice of the individual did not contribute at all towards the success of putting them into practice. Any religion that would regulate the moral acts in life WITHOUT ALLOWING FREEDOM OF ACTION WOULD BE TABOO, SUPERSTITION, A WRETCHED DEVICE TO TYRANNIZE MAN.. If, in Christianity, a person does not have the freedom to choose the good from the evil, then the teaching of Holy Scripture is reduced to a blank paper. Accepting Holy Scripture, the Christian should inevitably accept that man chooses FREELY TO DO GOOD OR EVIL and THAT EACH ONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE KIND OF SELECTION HE MAKES.

And, indeed, if we take into account the sinner’s inclination towards evil, when the longer he lives the more he usually delves into sin, then death, coming untimely, becomes his benefactor, that is, it comes before the sinner might become corrupt and completely callous.

b. IS MORAL LIFE VERY DIFFICULT?

The sincere answer to this question is as follows: Moral life is difficult living in society because of the physical pleasures and leisure (which, up to a point, favor the welfare of the body) are satisfied, for the most part, by general or partial violation of the moral laws. Moral life is difficult because rising in some positions (which indirectly contributes to betterment in life) is very slow moving when the individual seeks it with his own personal worth alone, Often his worth is put aside by the skillful ones who use devious methods. Moral life is difficult because family obligations and urgent needs make a person lose his patience and his serenity, and they lead him blindly to deeds that are not strictly Christian, nor socially just. However, the fact that moral life is difficult does not mean that it is impossible, nor that it is beyond the powers of a naturally and intellectually endowed average person.

c. IN SPITE OF ALL OUR EFFORTS, WE STILL SIN

Indeed, this is the truth. But what of it? Our Savior Jesus Christ has provided especially for this, for He knew, as no one else who had lived on earth, THE WEAKNESS OF HUMAN NATURE. It is indisputable that SIN IS FOREVER BEFORE EACH OF US REGARDLESS OF HOW DEVOUT WE MAY BE. We have examples of holy men who, in a weak moment, stumbled on sin and fell into it and, in falling, were bruised spiritually. Our Lord and Savior looks with Paternal pain, kindness, and unbounded sympathy as we stumble and fall into sin, and yet if we remain satisfied or unconcerned about sin, this is unforgivable. There IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR THIS. When the soul arrives in the boat of death on the other side of life, then the PARTIAL JUDGMENT OF GOD WILL NOT COUNT HOW MANY TIMES THAT THAT SOUL FELL INTO SIN, BUT HOW MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR REPENTANCE AND RETURN TO GRACE IT SCORNED FOR EVEN ONE SIN THAT IT COMMITTED. For this reason, the Holy Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, writes:
“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead and Christ shall give you light” (Ephesians 5:14).
And our Lord said in the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke: “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” [Luke 15:7].

It is the persistent and miserable disdain we show for the Paternal Love of God and that, knowingly, we prefer continuously the sinful state instead of repentance and spiritual cleansing. And although a person should always be ready, yet the opportunities, by far and often, are given by God, even up to the last moment in which Charon signals for a person to make ready because his time has arrived. Even at the eleventh hour of life, our Savior Jesus Christ will accept our sincere repentance and reward us, as well as the person who, by great struggles in life, willingly strayed away a little. Jesus said to the repentant thief on the cross:

“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” [Luke 22:43].
______________
“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!”
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George