Even the mighty die

Today’s first reading (1 Maccabees 6:1-13) tells of the death of a mighty king.

On his deathbed, he faces his failures and even his sins.

I know that this is why these evils have overtaken me;
and now I am dying, in bitter grief, in a foreign land.

Even the mighty, who seem to have so much power to change the world, will pass from this world in the same way ultimately as the poorest and the least powerful.

Money and power can sometimes delay the inevitable, but the inevitable always wins.

You and I may not be rich or powerful, but like many people today we can try to fool ourselves about our own mortality.

Life unending cannot be had by power or riches or pleasure, but only by the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

May we open ourselves more and more to that grace, before the inevitable comes.