Javi visits Laura a few times after that throughout the next two weeks, but with each visit she continues to decline. It’s gotten so bad that she can’t eat an entire wafer for Communion, so Javi has to break off a small piece for her and consume the rest himself. As her health continues to decline, he gives Jeff and Laura a funeral planning sheet for Laura to choose the hymns and Scripture readings. Eventually, Laura can hardly eat solid food, which means she can no longer receive the Lord’s Supper. So, for his next visit, Javi plans to do the Commendation of the Dying with her.
As he parks in their driveway, he lets out a big sigh and prays, as is his custom. “Lord God, I am called to the side of one who is about to die. In her last bitter conflict, I am to stand by Laura in the hour of utmost need and bring her comfort. I acknowledge before You that of myself I have no ability or sufficiency. I come before You in deepest humility and pray that You would send from heaven all necessary courage and joy, faith and wisdom, power and strength. O God of all mercy, be gracious to Your child and make her faith strong that her trust may not waver or fail. Forgive her sins and be her helper in every need. Be pleased to come with Your comfort in these last hours when all human power has failed and there is no other help. Equip her with the shield of faith and the whole armor of God that she may fight the good fight, staunchly resist every temptation of Satan, and through death come to life in Your heavenly kingdom. Short for her the agony, the labor, the fear, and the pain of death, and receive her into Your eternal glory that You have prepared for her through the blood of Your Son and firmly promised by Your Spirit in Your Word. Hear me for the sake of Jesus. Amen.”
He opens his eyes and walks to the front door, encumbered with anxiety on how well this rite will go with Laura being on morphine.
Jeff opens the door, “Hi, Pastor. Come on in.”
He walks in and sees some of Jeff and Laura’s family standing in the living room, looking at her and crying, the news on the TV behind them. Glancing at the couch on the left, he sees Laura, passed out and jaundiced. Kidney failure. She really doesn’t have much time left.
As Javi slowly walks over, he can smell the usual body odor and rubbing alcohol, and this time urine. More signs of death.
Jeff whispers to his family to give them some space. After they leave, Javi quietly says, “Jeff, I think it’s about time we do the Commendation of the Dying. Having you ever seen that done before?”
Jeff shakes his head and Javi explains, “When a person is unable to receive the Lord’s Supper, like Laura is now, it’s usually an indicator that they’re near death, among the other physical and medical signs. When someone is unable to receive the Eucharist and they’re near death, we do the Commendation of the Dying to commend their soul to the Lord. The rite also serves to strengthen the spirit of the one who is dying, as well as the bereaved. Are you up for this today?”
Jeff nods and says, “Yeah, but I don’t know if she’ll even be awake for it. Like I said on the phone, she just took some morphine and she’s out.”
“That’s okay. The Word of the Lord is living and active; it will do His good and gracious will, for it never returns to Him void.”
Jeff nods silently and brings Javi over to the couch where Laura lies. He sits down on the chair in front of it.
Javi opens his Pastoral Care Companion to the Commendation of the Dying and begins with the sign of the cross, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
“Amen,” they both say.
“The Lord be with you,” Javi says.
“And with thy spirit.”
“Let us pray… Lord God, heavenly Father, look with favor upon Your child, Laura, forgive her all her sins, and comfort her with the promise of resurrection to life everlasting; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.”
“Amen,” they say.
Since Laura is unconscious, Javi skips the section on private confession and absolution. He turns the page and says, “A reading from Psalm twenty-three. ‘The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.'”
Suddenly, Laura starts speaking the psalm with him and makes attempts to sit up. Javi is shocked not only that she started praying the psalm with him, but also that she is trying to sit up. He continues as Jeff helps her sit up and as she speaks along, “‘He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.'”
“Amen,” they all say.
Laura is sitting up by the end of the psalm, and Javi says, “Let us pray… O Lord, our shepherd, lead Your sheep in goodness and mercy as we pass with You through the valley of the shadow of death to Your eternal home, where You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.”
“Amen.”
“What’s going on?” Laura says suddenly and weakly.
Javi tries not to smirk. He can’t believe the power of the Word! Well, he can, but it has stricken an ineffable awe within him! Laura was completely passed out, yet as soon as the Word entered her ears, it woke her up and she could not resist speaking the Word, all the while trying to sit up so formally as if she were in church! And now, the morphine finally kicks back in, and she’s understandably confused.
Considering her strong faith, Javi thinks it best to be straightforward with her, “Laura, we’re doing the Commendation of the Dying.”
She gives the slightest of nods.
After a brief moment of silence, Javi decides to continue. “A reading from Psalm one hundred thirty, ‘Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD! A Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If You, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope.'” How extremely appropriate, thinks Javi, considering how she just responded to His Word. “‘My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities…’
“Let us pray… O Lord, let Your ears be attentive to the voice of our cry, for there is forgiveness with You that You may be feared. By Your unfailing love deliver us from all our sin that our hope may be in You and in Your full redemption; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.”
“Amen,” they all say.
Javi looks up and sees Laura is still attentive. So, he continues, “A reading from John chapter ten. Jesus said: ‘My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.'” Again, how apt, considering she woke up right at the hearing of His Word. “‘I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand…’
“A reading from Revelation chapter seven: ‘After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and DGod will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”‘”
“I see it,” Laura says suddenly as she tries laying back down.
“You see what, honey?” Jeff asks as he helps her lie down.
“I see heaven and the…” she drifts off into a sleep.
As Jeff covers her back into her blankets, he looks at Javi, confused, but Javi just blankly stares back. He isn’t sure what to think either. He immediately thins of St. Stephen, who said just moments before he was martyred, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God,” in Acts 7:56. Was she truly having one of these moments? Or was the morphine causing her delirium? Javi has no idea. But months later, he would take comfort in the former.
Nevertheless, she’s still breathing. So, Javi says, “Let us continue with confessing our faith using the words of the Apostles’ Creed.”
Jeff and Javi speak the Creed together, and Laura drifts in and out as she speaks some parts of the Creed in her semi-consciousness.
Javi then motions Jeff to him and says, “We can pray the Litany for the Dying together. As usual, you say the bold parts, like we do in church.”
Jeff nods as Javi begins, “O Lord…”
“Have mercy.”
“O Christ…”
“Have mercy.”
“O Lord…”
“Have mercy.”
“O God the Father in heaven…”
“Have mercy on us.”
“God the Son, the Redeemer of the world…”
“Have mercy on us.”
“God the Holy Spirit…”
“Have mercy on us.”
“Be gracious to us.”
“Spare us, good Lord.”
“Be gracious to us.”
“Help us, good Lord.”
“From all sin, from all evil, from all suffering…”
“Good Lord, deliver us.”
“By Your incarnation, by Your cross and suffering, by Your death and burial…”
“Help us, good Lord.”
“By Your resurrection and ascension, by the coming of Your Holy Spirit…”
“Help us, good Lord.”
“We poor sinners implore You…”
“To hear us, good Lord.”
“That You deliver Your servant Laura from all evil and from eternal death…”
Jeff sniffs back some tears, “We implore You to hear us, good Lord.”
“That You forgive all her sins…”
“We implore You to hear us, good Lord.”
“That You give her refreshment and everlasting blessing…”
“We implore You to hear us, good Lord.”
“Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world…”
“Have mercy on us.”
“Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world…”
“Have mercy on us.”
“Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world…”
“Grant us Your peace.”
“O Lord…”
“Have mercy.”
“O Christ…”
“Have mercy.”
“O Lord…”
“Have mercy.”
“Let us pray,” Javi continues. “Almighty God, You breathed life into Adam and have given earthly life also to Laura, Your dear child and servant. With faith in Your power to heal and save, we commend her to You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.”
“Amen,” Javi and Jeff say.
Javi then gently lays his hand on Laura’s head and prays the Lord’s Prayer with Jeff.
As they finish, he leaves his hand on her head and says slowly yet deliberately, “Laura, go in peace. May God the Father, who created you, may God the Son,” making the sign of the cross on her forehead with his thumb, “who redeemed and saved you with His blood, may God the Holy Spirit, who sanctified you in the water of Holy Baptism, receive you into the company of saints and angels to await the resurrection and live in the light of His glory forevermore.”
And Jeff and Javi say, “Amen.”
“Before I leave,” Javi says, “let’s sing the Nunc Dimittis.“
After they sing the Nunc Dimittis through tearful sniffs, Jeff walks Javi over to the door.
On the verge of tears again, Jeff turns to Javi and says, “Pastor, I can’t thank you enough. Thank you for doing this.” And they hugged like men.
The Lutheran Column 