Embracing Death
Listening to the Spirit
When the signs of age begin to mark my body;
when the ill that is to diminish me or carry me off
strikes from without or is born within me;
when the painful moment comes
in which I suddenly awaken
to the fact that I am ill or growing old;
and above all at that last moment
when I feel I am losing hold of myself
and am absolutely passive within the hands
of the great unknown forces that have formed me;
in all those dark moments, O God,
grant that I may understand that it is you
who are painfully parting the fibers of my being
in order to penetrate to the very marrow
of my substance and bear me away within yourself.
(Piere Teilhard De Chardin, SJ)
Listening to the Word
Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.
“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?' But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
Reflection
Death is a reality, not a prank. Death is inevitable. Death is real. Though we know these realities still we have difficulties accepting death. People prolong life. People go to different medical experts to extend life. People spend millions on medicines and current medical practices to add more years to his or her life. But the gospel in this 5th Sunday of Lent is not on prolonging life but more on embracing the end of our life. Jesus embraced death.
Why we have difficulties in embracing death? The first is fear. We are afraid of death because we see on the possessions we have right now are beautiful and we don’t want to leave them. We are attached to people and material things. Death as if the loss of all the beauty and the treasure that we loved much. The second is reluctance. God knows all my infidelities. I know that God is love and merciful. That is what I “know” about God and that is not what I “believe” sometimes, that is why there is a reluctance to embrace death. Knowledge and beliefs are fighting inside of me sometimes that is why reluctance comes in.
The Gospel can give us answers to why we need to hold close to death. First is death is not the end of our story. Jesus needs to die for God to produce more fruits. The death of Jesus is a gain, not a loss. In the Preface I for the Dead it says: “Life is changed but not ended”. The second is death is a passage. “It is in dying that we are born to eternal life”. Through the death of Jesus, the resurrection came. Third, Death is a meeting to a God who is “beauty, ever ancient, ever new”. After his death, Jesus encountered his Father, who was the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Death is not something to get afraid of instead something or someone to be embraced. Because Jesus came to the world not to condemn but to save the world.
Reflection Questions
Gospel Reflections
Allowing Jesus to Change Us
Who Is Jesus for Me? From Encounter to Mission
