354. What is the relationship between the sacraments and the death of a Christian?
(Comp 354) The Christian who dies in Christ reaches at the end of his earthly existence
the fulfillment of that new life which was begun in Baptism, strengthened in
Confirmation, and nourished in the Eucharist, the foretaste of the heavenly
banquet. The meaning of the death of a Christian becomes clear in the light of
the death and Resurrection of Christ our only hope. The Christian who dies in
Christ Jesus goes “away from the body to be at home with the Lord” (2
Corinthians 5:8).
“In brief”
(CCC 1680)
All the sacraments, and principally those of Christian initiation, have as
their goal the last Passover of the child of God which, through death, leads
him into the life of the Kingdom. Then what he confessed in faith and hope will
be fulfilled: "I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of
the world to come" (Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed).
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1681)
The Christian meaning of death is revealed in the light of the Paschal mystery of the death and
resurrection of Christ in whom resides our only hope. The Christian who dies in
Christ Jesus is "away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Cor
5:8). (CCC 1682) For the Christian the day of
death inaugurates, at the end of his
sacramental life, the fulfillment of his new birth begun at Baptism, the
definitive "conformity" to "the image of the Son" conferred
by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and participation in the feast of the
Kingdom which was anticipated in the Eucharist - even if final purifications
are still necessary for him in order to be clothed with the nuptial garment.
Reflection
(CCC 1683) The Church who, as
Mother, has borne the Christian sacramentally in her womb during his earthly
pilgrimage, accompanies him at his journey's end, in order to surrender him
"into the Father's hands." She offers to the Father, in Christ, the
child of his grace, and she commits to the earth, in hope, the seed of the body
that will rise in glory (Cf. 1 Cor 15:42-44). This offering is fully celebrated
in the Eucharistic sacrifice; the blessings before and after Mass are
sacramentals.
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