Death and God taking you when you are most ready

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rosejmj

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I have heard some Catholics say that we should trust that God will take us at the right time, supposedly when we are most ready or something. Often I have heard this after a death(often a younger person). It’s difficult for me to understand because if that was true wouldn’t I have died when I was the most holy and close to God? What about someone who say leaves the faith? If God truly cared about their salvation wouldn’t he have taken them when they were ready before they “sinned” or “strayed”? Or is this saying not true? Or is the faith not true? I know that saying isn’t Church dogma or anything, but if Catholic morality is correct and God loves us then why does he not take people when they are more innocent rather than wait until they accumulate more sins and stray and potentially end up in hell? The free will teaching does not explain it either because that person earlier in their life would have CHOSEN God.
 
Yeah, the Catholic faith doesn’t teach that.

Simply put, God takes us when HE feels it’s time. God tells us in the Scriptures that we ought to always be on guard for our Judgement, whether Particular or Final.
 
rosejmj said:
I have heard some Catholics say that we should trust that God will take us at the right time, supposedly when we are most ready or something. Often I have heard this after a death(often a younger person). It’s difficult for me to understand because if that was true wouldn’t I have died when I was the most holy and close to God? What about someone who say leaves the faith? If God truly cared about their salvation wouldn’t he have taken them when they were ready before they “sinned” or “strayed”? Or is this saying not true? Or is the faith not true? I know that saying isn’t Church dogma or anything, but if Catholic morality is correct and God loves us then why does he not take people when they are more innocent rather than wait until they accumulate more sins and stray and potentially end up in hell? The free will teaching does not explain it either because that person earlier in their life would have CHOSEN God.
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You’ve presented presumptions… about God and even about yourself…

I.E., a succession of statements are questioned as being illogical followed by illogical.

Rather than weigh into that.

We’re called to be READY NOW! So, be ready now. !

Some do… and Some do not.

When/IF you come to have some Faith - rather than little to none
those concerns become far easier to See.

)_
 
Thomas á Kempis, in his spiritual classic The Imitation of Christ, teaches that we should arise each day and live as though we would not see its end. Likewise, that we should retire for the evening as if we would not see the morning.

Excellent advice.
 
po18guy said:
Thomas á Kempis, in his spiritual classic The Imitation of Christ, teaches that we should arise each day and live as though we would not see its end. Likewise, that we should retire for the evening as if we would not see the morning.

Excellent advice.
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Agreed. Be Ready… Awake… Excellent book.
 
I think Our Lord said to be watchful, lest death take us unawares. Obviously that wouldn’t be possible if no one died unprepared.

Having said that, the Crucifix shows that God has the power to transform the very worst thing into the best thing. We should never despair in God’s ability to transform a tragedy. It is still a tragedy, but that does not mean evil gets the last word.
 
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TheCatholicKnight said:
Simply put, God takes us when HE feels it’s time.
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Actually, the Church doesn’t teach that, either.

God isn’t like the Fates of Greek mythology, deciding when to snip the lifeline of a person. People die; God doesn’t kill them.
 
rosejmj said:
God will take us at the right time, supposedly when we are most ready
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You have raised a great discussion question, but used the wrong premise since we are never ready. You need to read the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins in Matthew 25 and be afraid…very afraid.
“And while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. …And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.”
 
No, the Catholic Church doesn’t teach that you’ll only die when you are ready. However, if you pray a daily Rosary, God promises that you won’t die a sudden death. 🙂
 
po18guy said:
Amazon has a paperback edition for $2.50 (free shipping on $25+ orders). I have one coming to keep in the car, the garage, or wherever.

amazon.com

The Imitation of Christ ​

4.8 out of 5 stars, ISBN: 978-1945644443, Value Classic Reprints, November 26, 2016, $3.57
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The very first paragraph reads as follows - and is worth remembering…
  1. He who follows Me, walks not in darkness," says the Lord. John 8:12. By these words of Christ we are advised to imitate His life and habits, if we wish to be truly enlightened and free from all blindness of heart. Let our chief effort, therefore, be to study the life of Jesus Christ. The teaching of Christ is more excellent than all the advice of the saints, and he who has His spirit will find in it a hidden manna. Now, there are many who hear the Gospel often but care little for it because they have not the spirit of Christ. Yet whoever wishes to understand fully the words of Christ must try to pattern his whole life on that of Christ.
 
After our four year old niece drowned I struggled with this “why did God take her” question. In prayer it occurred to me that God didn’t take her but was there to receive her.

To tell the loved ones of a deceased child that “God took her” is just not right, not factual and not helpful. People die, so be ready. But God is not waiting for our lottery number to be pulled.
 
Gorgias said:
People die; God doesn’t kill them.
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Where do I imply that God kills anybody? Our deaths are an instance in time that relates to God as the First Cause. Also, the ‘taking’ refers to the Judgement of individuals rather than their deaths (death is simply the separation of the soul from the body).
 
aitapyh said:
Um, didn’t “He” eliminate Jobs children to make a point? Oooh sorry, that is he specifically allowed jobs children to be killed…if your gonna say that Satan was the actual one doing the dirty work.
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LOL! I was going to make that point. However, I’ve got a more important one for you: are you certain that the Book of Job tells a historical narrative? Are you certain that it isn’t just a pedagogical tale, and not literal history?
aitapyh said:
Didn’t God destroy the wicked people of the earth in the flood, kill the pharaohs first born and his soldiers in the red sea?
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How do any of those narrative prove your assertion that God takes them “when they’re most ready”? 🤔
 
Yep…

Jesus never says,… Of course, Yea, ye shall be ready - so never worry about Sin…

He says, Don’t let me catch you unready - therefore always work to BE READY
 
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