A
cursor glance or a mere observation of life and nature reveals to us, mentally
or instinctively if not naturally that the end of all living things on earth is
death. This fact is brought home to us by the many losses that we have
experienced in our lives. We suffered our first loss when we were ‘ejected’
from, pushed or ‘forced’ out of the comfort of our mother’s womb at birth.
That, no doubt, was the reason for our first cry, which also demonstrated to
our mother that we were alive. We did not shed tears of joy but a protest for
depriving us of a comfortable and cozy life; a deprivation of an insulated life
in an environment that we did not have to work for anything. Our needs were met
automatically just by being alive in our mother’s womb. From the day of our
birth we knew that many more losses awaited us. Very soon our first tooth as
babies would be taken by ‘the tooth fairy’.
From then on gamut of losses would be our lot in life, the most painful
of it would be the demise of our parents. Dare I say it? Our own demise would
one day follow. So death is not so foreign to us. We may know about death but to mentally
receive it and practically and materially prepare for it may not be easy to
conceptualize. It is easier, you will agree, to think of the demise of others
than to imagine our end. But Life’s lesson assures us that as the night follows
the day one day will be our turn. How prepared are you for that day?
We
pray for our departed loved ones always especially in the month of November. We
pray for them because many of them died in mysterious and strange circumstances.
Many did not prepare for their demise; neither did they know that the day of
their death was their ‘D’ Day. Plane crash? Deadly auto crash? Shipwreck? Bomb blast? Terrorist attack? House engulfed
in flames while occupants were asleep? Stray bullets? Irresponsible and
reckless use of guns to settle scores and grievances? We pray for mercy on their souls, that they
find peace with the Lord. Their death, apart from being sad, should serve as a
warning for us. On the need to be prepared for our day of reckoning let us
listen to the Gospel of Luke 13:1-5: “At that time some people who were present
there told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the
blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, ‘Do you think that because
these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other
Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all
perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at
Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who
lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will
all perish as they did!” The lesson we must learn from the dead is that the same
destiny awaits us all at the end and the foundation of our final home in the
world is sixth below mother earth.
The
month of November will soon come to an end and the hustling and bustling of the
festive season is right around the corner. Our attention is once again drawn to
the need to be prepared as we being the season of Advent. We must think
eschatologically: that is thoughts of the final events of history or the
ultimate destiny of all living things on earth. Let us take the words of Jesus
as recorded in Luke’s Gospel 12:35-40 to heart and ponder them day and night:
“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their
master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and
knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his
arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table,
and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of
this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for
at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” What else can I tell
you?
So
how must we prepare for our demise? Here are some tips.
1.
Read and put the following Bible references into
action: the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5, 6, 7,18 and 25.
2.
Do not forget that reconciliation and peaceful
co-habitation should still be the guiding principles for all and sundry.
3.
Prophet Micah 6:8 reminds us thus: “You have
been told, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do
the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.
4.
Remember that being a Christian is not what we
say but what we do. Christianity, therefore, is an action word. Let us be
Christians in word and in deed. Know that we are all created in the image and
likeness of God: even your enemy was created in the image and likeness of God.
The poor, the sick, the homeless and those in jail are all God’s children; they
deserve care and love from you. They may be the ones to plead on your behalf
before the throne of Grace. Do not ignore them! Do to no one what you do not
want done to you.
5.
In his letter to Titus 3:1-7 Paul asked Titus to
“Remind your people that it is their duty to be obedient to the officials and
representatives of the government; to be ready to do good at every opportunity;
not to go slandering other people or picking quarrels, but to be courteous and
always polite to all kinds of people.”
I am
sure if we observe the aforementioned, not forgetting our prayer and
sacramental life and doing our best at all times, we should not be afraid of
death. Dying then would be for us a transition to a better life, a life with
God.
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