We Are Never Alone

There are moments when we're very happy to be on our own. What wouldn't we give just to have a few minutes for ourselves! Yet in situations when we don't know if we can cope, or we're frightened, we want someone there with us.

I had just arrived in Moldova. The flights I had taken were long and exhausting and my long drive up to Heathrow Airport had begun at 2 in the morning. I had hoped to sleep for a few hours before I met with people. However, the gentleman who greeted me at the airport appeared extremely anxious as I exited the customs hall.

There was someone in hospital who needed a priest and would I come? Of course, there was no question. I went not knowing what to expect or if I would be adequate for the situation. My language skills were minimal at best, and I felt wholly inadequate, knowing that any words I could offer would most likely be misunderstood.

When we arrived at the crumbling building of a hospital, I was taken to the bedside of a person who was unconscious and dying. There was no family or friend present. I was the only one there. My host explained to me that the dying man was his neighbour and they had been friends for many years. He had spent the day at hospital with his friend and had only left him in order to come get me at the airport.

We had never met. I knew nothing about the person at whose bedside I stood and whose shallow breathing I measured. Yet, in a way that I couldn't express, I knew we weren't strangers in this moment, when life was ending we all stood within the same circle of faith.

As I began the beautiful, simple and gentle liturgy of anointing and the prayers for the dying, I also knew we weren't alone. The whole community was present; the community in which we always stood, whose prayers and loving presence always surrounded us. Here, in the silence of the night, we not only entered the mystery of death but the power of God’s guidance.

I knew that even if I had not been able to come to Moldova that day, this man would not have been alone. Whatever our circumstances, this is true.

This is Christ's gift to us; in the mystery of His Communion the wound of our loneliness is healed.

Holy Lord, show us that we have nothing to fear, for with You we are never alone. Help us to see that our community of faith is global and transcends all borders, forever surrounding us and upholding us. Pray for us now and at the hour of our death. We pray in the name of Your Son, Christ Jesus. Amen

Dying Alone

Words of Comfort for the Dying

Having a Good Death

Helping to Ease The Pain