Dear Restoration,

I have a wonderful cousin who is 56 years old and is dying of lung and brain cancer. Yesterday she said to me, "I’m scared and I don’t want to die." I fumbled with words that meant nothing. How do you answer a dying person?

I gave her a rosary, which I think was some comfort, but refrained from saying "holy things," though that is exactly what I wanted to say. I didn’t want to scare her more by giving her no hope of living.

But she is dying, and I felt like I lost an opportunity to bring her peace. Help me, please. Time is running out. How can I bring her peace and comfort? She has had the Anointing of the Sick in the last month or so.

a reader

Dear Reader,

It is a very wise practice to speak about the goodness, love, and kindness of God to those who are threatened with death. They need to be taught about death, not as a terror, but as an entry into the Kingdom of Heaven, the home of all who love God, the greatest blessing that we can possibly receive.

It is our final homeland where we rejoice beyond limit and enjoy the joyous welcome, the company, and the friendship of all the angels and saints. Like them we will be free from suffering and fear and from guilt and shame.

We shall see our loved ones and our ancestors. Our tears will be wiped away, and we shall see God as he is—the beauty of the Father, the radiant triumph of the Son, and the all-holy kindness of the Holy Spirit—the God who dwells with us.

Eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who believe in him, for those who seek his love (Is 64:3 & 1 Cor 2:9).

a Madonna House priest