St. Hedwig Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois shared a reflection on Nov. 15, discussing the topic of our lives on this earth. 

“We should not fear the end of the world or our own personal death,” the reflection stated. “Most likely the world will not end in our lifetime, but we do not know that. On the other hand, we can be completely confident that we ourselves shall die. True life is always living toward death.”

The reflection recounted that the first reading from Proverbs shares the wisdom of the Old Testament and the virtues of a good wife. The good wife, however, is not just a model for mothers and married women, but rather is an example for everyone. 

“Such a person brings good and blessings to all others, knows how to do things wisely, knows how to work, knows how to care for the poor and knows how to care for her husband and her family,” the reflection stated. 

One of the points that is stated is that the physical beauty of a person can deceive what is really of importance, which is character. 

“The wife in this reading is clearly a person who knows how to use and invest her talents in the realities that will last forever. She knows how to live toward death with all that truly matters,” the reflection stated. 

In the second reading, we hear about the fact that we do not know when our last day comes. We should not be scared about this, but rather must be aware that many things can happen. We can take a page from the good wife’s page by always being prepared for whatever may happen.

No matter how we view our approach to  the process of aging, we can be certain that our end is coming. What matters most is that we prepare ourselves to meet our Lord.