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On this day, on this occasion of remembering those who
have passed from this life,
my thoughts linger around the hard-reality of death. We often grieve with pain and sorrow of this physical separation from our loved ones. We do not know how to cope with this separation, this loss. We hide ourselves, we withdraw, we are closed from within – we cry deep within. No amount of consolation could relieve us of this pain. So we decide not to have this pain. We have decided to run – as far as we can, so that death cannot catch us; we build a fortified castle underneath – deep in the ‘ocean’ - thinking that we are safe. On the contrary, death still pursues us. Perhaps, these are the thoughts of an archaic mind – a way of running away from death.
my thoughts linger around the hard-reality of death. We often grieve with pain and sorrow of this physical separation from our loved ones. We do not know how to cope with this separation, this loss. We hide ourselves, we withdraw, we are closed from within – we cry deep within. No amount of consolation could relieve us of this pain. So we decide not to have this pain. We have decided to run – as far as we can, so that death cannot catch us; we build a fortified castle underneath – deep in the ‘ocean’ - thinking that we are safe. On the contrary, death still pursues us. Perhaps, these are the thoughts of an archaic mind – a way of running away from death.
With
modern science, with medical research and development we push death further
away on the pretext of eradicating it. We succumb to the idea of longevity
devoid of death. We believe that death is far away, if not, it is not there at
all and we have a lot of time to live or that we may live “forever and ever.” What
a false impression! What an illusion! The graves of our beloved – entombed
right there in front of our eyes - shatters this illusion and make us rethink
our unacceptable, inescapable and the hard-reality of death.
They – our loves ones – have gone and we
are left here only with their memories. How fresh and real are those memories
and how hard it is for us to forget! The only consolation we have is the
strength of faith – faith in the
risen Lord. Instead of thinking about WHAT happens after death or finding ways
to run away from death, we should see – with faith – WHO awaits us beyond death? It
is Jesus our Risen Saviour! The
thoughts of our loves ones in the bosom of God may give us some consolation and
strength to live on. As He has embraced those who have passed from this side to
the other, He assures us that with
death, life is not ended but changed. There is no need to fear, to face
this change! We just live simply – with faith in God - as we pass from this
life to the other.
Fr Robert Daniel
Francis
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