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Living Well and Dying Faithfully Reaction Paper

Lauren Thorp

Fr. Raymond Studzinski

TRS 753E

13 April 2020
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In Living Well and Dying Faithfully, John Swinton and Richard Payne seek to dive

deeper into understanding death as it relates to human beings and how it can bring hope into our

lives. This book serves as a reminder that end of life care does not begin when a person is close

to death; instead, Swinton argues, that end of life care “finds its roots in the processes of forma-

tion that go on throughout a person’s life and that come together in quite particular ways to pro-

duce the individual’s unique experience of dying”.1 With the current pandemic of COVID19

causing suffering and the death of thousands of people worldwide, Living Well and Dying Faith-

fully is a necessary resource in today’s society in highlighting the importance of the link between

life and death.

Although Swinton notes the importance of mourning in regards to someone dying, there

must be a hopefulness surrounding it. Two ways of sustaining hope are administering the sacra-

ments to the dying person and surrounding them with loved ones. Unfortunately, with the rise of

the coronavirus the past several weeks, both of these do not seem like feasible options.

As a result, this might leave the dying (especially those who are dying in the hospital from this

virus without friends or family) with an extreme loneliness as they begin to face death. It might

seem almost impossible to them to obtain a sense of hope, as they cannot be surrounded by loved

ones. Fortunately, however, we live in an age where we have various means of technology to

reach our loved ones, such as video chatting, email, and texting. As I video chatted my grandpar-

ents yesterday, they described how other family members have been dropping off food and re-

sources for them outside their door, and having brief conversations through the windows. We

were able to all chat through Google Hangouts with other family members, providing a sense of

community and companionship during a very stressful and challenging time in all of our lives. In

1 Swinton, John, and Richard Payne. Living Well and Dying Faithfully: Christian Practices for End-of-
Life Care. W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2009. Page 5.
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Swinton’s words, these are examples of how we have been “living life abundantly” despite the

circumstances preventing us from being physically close to one another.

Swinton states that participating in the sacraments is an essential practice to sustain faith

in times of suffering and death.2 In addition to providing comfort and community through the

means of video chat, technology can also provide opportunities for the dying in our current pan-

demic to virtually participate in the sacraments as a means to obtain hope. In light of Holy Week

and Easter, many were able to still reflect on Christ’s life, death, and resurrection through means

of virtual adoration and watching Masses all over the world on their TVs and laptops. Despite

not being able to physically attend and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus through Easter mass,

all Christians (and perhaps non-Christians as well) were still united in prayer and thanksgiving.

And it is “in prayer we not only commune with God but find new strength - new virtue - for daily

life”.3

As we reflect on Jesus’ death on Easter, especially during these trying times, we are re-

minded that death is not the end. Jesus’ victory over death provides Christians with a newfound

hope, especially as they face the end of life. This is the reason why we can proudly proclaim with

St Paul, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”.4 We are renewed by

this hope, which can help us practice spiritual formation in our lives. And because life and death

are linked, it is this spiritual formation that helps us “see our earthly practices in heavenly per-

spective”.5

2 Swinton and Payne, 60.

3 Swinton and Payne, 88.
4 1 Corinthians 15:55.
5 Swinton and Payne, 11.