"Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." (Genesis 5:24)
Genesis 5 presents the genealogy from Adam to Noah, ten generations spanning nearly a thousand years each. The extraordinary lifespans of the antediluvian patriarchs have been interpreted variously: as symbolic of the greatness of the early ages, as reflecting a different calendrical system, or as preserving a memory of when humanity was closer to its original vitality. What is theologically constant in the repetitive formula is the refrain: and then he died. Adam lived 930 years, and then he died. Seth lived 912 years, and then he died. The genealogy is a long meditation on mortality: the image of God, whom God made, returns to the dust. The sentence of Genesis 3 is being carried out in every generation.
One name breaks the pattern: Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. Enoch does not die. He is taken. The Letter to the Hebrews says he was taken so that he would not experience death, and before he was taken he was commended as one who pleased God. Enoch is the first figure in Scripture to escape death, and his departure by divine action anticipates the resurrection hope: there is a mode of being in relation to God that transcends the death sentence of the Fall. The Catechism cites Enoch and Elijah as signs given to Israel that God's plan is life, not death, that the ending of Genesis 3 is not the final word (CCC 966).
Brothers and sisters, the genealogy of Genesis 5 ends each entry with and then he died. Every news cycle, every cemetery, every hospital ward is a recitation of this refrain. But Enoch walked with God and was taken. The life that is lived in close walk with God participates already in something that death cannot permanently hold. Walk with God. Not the occasional visit but the continuous companionship that characterises Enoch. The walk is the preparation for the taking.
Lord God, Enoch walked with you and you took him. Teach us to walk with you daily, in the ordinary rhythm of life, so that when you take us we will already be at home with you. Let our lives be lived in your company, and let death be nothing more than the next step on a walk that was already going your direction. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.