Life And Death

Quid igitur tantopere vitam istam desideramus, in qua quanto diutius quis fuerit, tanto majore oneratur sarcina peccatorum? Ipse Dominus ait: Sufficit diei malitia sua. Et Jacob dixit: Dies annorum vitae meae quos habeo, centum triginta minima et mali, sed quia nobis acessu dierum malitiae incrementa cumulantur. Nullus enim dies sine nostro peccato praeterit. Unde egregie Apostolis ait: Mihi enim vivere Christus est, et mori lucrum, aliud ad necessitatem vitae referens, aliud ad mortis utilitatem. Christus enim nobis vivere est, cui servimus, cui oportet ut a sanctis suis in Evangelii praedicatione deferatur obsequium. Denique et Simeon qui ait: Nunc dimittis servum tuum, propter Christum exspectabat. Christus enim rex noster est; et ideo quod rex jubet, deserere non possumus et contemnere. Quantos imperator terrae hujus in peregrinis locis aut honoris specie, aut muneris alicujus causa jubet degere. Numquid hi inconsulto imperatore discedunt? Et quanto amplius est divinis parere, quam humanis! Vivere ergo sancto Christus est et mori lucrum. Unde Apostolus quasi servus; non enim refugit vitae obsequium, et quasi sapiens lucrum mortis amplecitur. Lucrum est enim evasisse incrementa peccai, lucrum fugisse deteriora, et ad meliora transisse. Et addidit: Dissolvi enim, et cum Christo esse multo melius: permanere autem in carne magis necessarium propter vos. Aliud melius, aliud necessarium. Necessarium propter fructum operis, melius propter gratiam et copulam Christi. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Bono Mortis, Caput II Source: Migne PL 14.542a-c

Why, then, should we so greatly desire this life, in which the longer someone is so the much more he adds to the burden of his sins? The Lord Himself says: 'Sufficient for the day is its evil.' 1 And Jacob said: 'The days of my life are a hundred and thirty years, so few and evil,' 2 because when no day passes without us sinning, then for us the increase of days heaps up evils. Whence the Apostle admirably says, 'For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain,' 3 referring on the one hand to the necessity of living and on the other to the usefulness of death. Because for us to live is Christ, whom we serve, in which it is necessary that the required service is carried out by his holy ones in the preaching of the Gospel. Then there is Simeon who said, 'Now dismiss your servant,' 4 on account of his hope for Christ. For Christ is our king, and therefore commands as a king, one whom we cannot desert or disregard. How much does an emperor of this world command be done in foreign places, as a matter of honour or for the reason of some other duty? Are these things issued by a reckless commander? And how much more should Divine things be obeyed than human! To live, therefore, is Christ, to die is gain. Whence the Apostle is as a servant, for he does not flee from obedience, and he is like a wise man in embracing death as gain. For it is a gain to have avoided an increase of sin, and to have fled worse things and passed on to better things. And he adds: 'I would be dissolved and be with Christ, which is better by far, but to remain in the flesh is more needful for your sake.' 5 One thing is better, another needful. Necessary on account of the fruit of the work, better because of grace and being with Christ. Saint Ambrose, On the Good of Death, from Chapter 2 1 Mt 6.34 2 Gen 47.9 3 Phil 1.21 4 Lk 2.29 5 Phil 1.23-24