“If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8).

St. Paul’s words to the Romans continues to speak with profound relevance in every generation, and the Church has consistently drawn from it to articulate the Christian vision of life, death, and discipleship. It proclaims a truth that is central to Catholic teaching: that every human person, by virtue of creation and redemption, belongs to God. We are not our own. This conviction shapes not only how we understand our personal identity, but also how we live out our mission in the world. The Catechism of the Catholic Church declares, “The Christian who unites his own death to that of Jesus views it as a step towards him and an entrance into everlasting life” (CCC 1020). Our lives, our deaths, our very existence are oriented toward the Lord.

Pope St. John Paul II, in Redemptor Hominis, his first encyclical, insists that Christ is “the center of the universe and of history.” Every person, he writes, finds their true dignity and destiny in Him. Our verse from Romans expresses that center clearly. Whether we live or die, our reference point is not ourselves, our goals, or our fears, but Jesus Christ. In Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope St. Paul VI reminds us that evangelization must touch the deepest aspects of human life. It must address our fears, our hopes, and our desire for meaning. In other words, the Church evangelizes not simply to inform, but to remind each person that they belong to the Lord.

This sense of belonging, of being the Lord’s, is also foundational to Catholic social teaching. If every person is made in God’s image and destined for eternal life in Christ, then every life must be treated with reverence- from the unborn child to the dying elderly, from the refugee at our border to the struggling neighbor next door. The Church calls us to live not for ourselves, but for the Lord, and thus in service to others. Living for the Lord means living with a heart for mission, grounded in love, compassion, and witness.

As we continue through November, with its themes of judgment and eternity, this week we’re invited to meditate on the phrase, “Whether we live or die…” The world offers many shifting definitions of success, identity, and self-worth, but the Church teaches us to anchor our identity in the unchanging truth of Christ. The uncertainties of life- economic struggle, illness, grief, societal tension- can unsettle us. Yet we are reminded that even amid such unpredictability, Christ remains our rock. We do not live randomly, nor do we die in vain. We are the Lord’s.

To put this verse into practice is to let it change how we approach our days. It means waking up with the awareness that this life is not just “mine” to use as I please, but a gift to offer. It means living each day as a disciple, praying more intentionally, forgiving more generously, witnessing to Christ more courageously. And it means facing death- our own or that of loved ones- with hope, not despair. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. That is the promise, and the challenge, of our faith.