To die in Life

Eternal Death
As we move towards the end of Lent, on the third Sunday, in the episode of the Samaritan woman, we learn that sin is like the kind of thirst that is quenched for a moment but then is rekindled. This is the same dynamic as addiction, a repetitive and obsessive behavior that takes away your freedom. Jesus is the living water, the water of freedom that, once drunk, quenches our thirst forever. 

On the fourth Sunday, in the episode of the healing of the blind man, we learn that sin is like darkness and Jesus is the light. Christ is the light of the world that illuminates our path, the light that leads to life, the light of faith that makes us see reality as God sees it.

In the episode of Lazarus' death, we see that sin is like death and Jesus is the resurrection. Death seems to have the meaning of a complete finality; it is the thing that conditions all things. For Jesus, who deliberately delayed his visit to Lazarus, saying that it was so that God’s glory would be manifested, death not only does not have the final word, but it exists for something greater: the manifestation of the glory of God.

In Romans 6:23, St. Paul says that the wage of sin is death. But God does not want the death of the sinner, he wants him to convert and live (Ezekiel 19:23). In fact, "Gloria Dei homo vivants" says St. Irenaeus, the greatest glory of God is Man fully alive. 

God wants us to have life, and have life in abundance. Man's life in abundance is what gives God the greatest joy, and what makes Him most unhappy is when we allow death to reign in us in any of the three dimensions: physical, psychological and spiritual.

In this exposition we deal with two concepts of death. The first, just described, is death as a consequence of sin and which leads to eternal death. Death in the positive sense is the passage to life and is therefore a temporal death.

Temporal Death
We have engraved in our minds that death happens at the end of life, but that is not true. Death happens every day and is part of life process; we have to live with it at all levels: physical, psychological and spiritual. In fact, death exists as a function of life, so it is not an end in itself: the end is always life, and death is the means to attain it. 

To be born - to grow - to reproduce - to die is the principle or rule by which every living being is governed. A human being in an adult state is made up of trillions of cells and each of these cells is, in itself, a living being. In fact, they all come from a mother cell that resulted from the union of two half-cells: the sperm and the egg. An amoeba, which lives in the non-potable waters of Africa, is considered a living being and it is made up of a single cell.

Therefore, each of the cells that make up our body is born, grows, reproduces and dies. This is how physical growth is explained. We can generalize that every 7 years we have a biologically new body, made up of cells that did not exist 7 years ago; over the course of our lives, we can say that we incarnate around 12 new bodies for a life off 85 years long. Just as a snake sheds its skin to grow, so we change our bodies for the same purpose: to grow and live. 

What is true on a physical level is also true on a psychological and spiritual level. Also, in these areas or dimensions of human life, growing and living imply dying, leaving behind things, people, realities, behaviours. 

The only cells that refuse to die, and multiply disorderly, are cancer cells. In this sense, we can be cancerous not only physically but also psychologically and spiritually when we cling like ticks to something or someone other than God.

Baptism = Passover = Death = Passage
Therefore, we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4

The ancient ritual of baptism, still practiced in some Christian churches, was a baptism by immersion. The neophyte was immersed in the water on one side and emerged on the other; this ritual mimicked Christ's Passover, the passage from death to life, from sin to grace, from the old man to the new man, in the image and likeness of Christ, the archetype of the new man.

This passage, this death, is a sine qua non requisite for following Christ: If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23. 

At Easter, there are those who highlight the passion, suffering and death, and there are those who emphasize the joy of the resurrection. Easter is an indivisible whole, a complete process with the two sides, like the two faces of a coin. 

There is no joy of Easter without the mortification of Lent and, just as in war the joy of victory is proportional to the ardor of the battle, the greater the Lenten mortification, the greater will be the Easter joy.

The Easters of Life
… (You must) clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:24

When I was studying theology, I had a classmate who gave up smoking every year during Lent, but went back to his habit every Easter Sunday. My father, on the other hand, stopped smoking during the Lent of his 22nd year and never did it again. 

We are called to die in life, so if for every Lent of our lives, we die to a vice, an attitude, a sin, we will reach holiness before the final death which is the passage to eternal life. Like Saint Paul, we can say:  it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. 

And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20. 

So let us die to sin in order to live a new life with God and for God.

Conclusion – All the time in our body, cells die and are replaced by others. Death is the "conditio sine qua non" of physical growth, and psychological and spiritual maturity. 

Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC

A test of how Christian you are

If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. 2 Corinthians 13:5

For all of us who are born into a Christian family and who consider ourselves Christians, practicing and non-practicing, it is healthy to occasionally review or test our faith. Just as a car needs regular maintenance to work well, so too we need regular maintenance of our faith to stay firmly grounded. The repetitiveness of day-to-day life can put us to sleep and leave us so unconscious that we end up not knowing what we are doing and, above all, why we are doing what we are doing. 

“Follow the crowd”: social pressure tends to standardize behavior, so that those of us who live in traditionally Christian countries tend to behave and think in relatively the same way; they call this public opinion, which is followed by a corresponding public practice. This sheep-like attitude and behaviour may well be more anti-Christian than Christian.

We need to stop and see if we are in fact genuine Christians, by questioning our faith, our actions and, especially, our motivations. Saint Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, advises Christians to do just that. We must not take our Christianity for granted, in order to progress in our Christian faith and practice, we need to examine and challenge ourselves regularly. As Socrates said, an unexamined life is not worth living.

Have you ever suffered for Christ?
‘If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world – therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, “Servants are not greater than their master.” If they persecuted me, they will persecute you… John 15:18-20

The world or society around us is not Christian. In fact, the society is increasingly becoming more secular, and so the way of life that the gospel inspires clashes with it; those who base their lives on the gospel will sooner or later find themselves in opposition to society. 

So, if you have never encountered trouble because of the gospel, then there are only two possibilities: either the society is perfectly Christian, which we know it is not true, or you are not a Christian and try to blend into the landscape of this world like a chameleon does in its habitat. 

Christ told us that we must be the salt of the earth, the salt that prevents corruption, the salt that when placed in an open wound causes pain but leads to healing; a Christian who is the salt of the earth must certainly suffer, because those who feel the effects of the salt will become revolted.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, Blessed are the peacemakers, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, Blessed are you when they revile you, persecute you, and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. 

Half of the beatitudes refer to this theme. A Christian is not one who sees injustice and stays silent, but one who denounces it; a Christian is not a soul at peace but a maker of peace, he or she is the one who enters into conflicts and tries to reconcile the two sides. All this entails or can entail suffering.

What have you left behind to follow Christ?
Then Peter said in reply, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have? (…) ‘Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 19:27, 29

When Christ called his disciples, they left everything to follow him: their boats, their nets, their families. The rich young man in the gospel had all the requirements to be a disciple of Jesus. The gospel says that Jesus liked him and had in fact called him to follow him as he did with the apostles, but he did not follow Jesus because he remained attached to his riches. 

Today we all call ourselves disciples of Jesus, but disciples of Jesus are those who leave things behind in order to follow Jesus, those who set aside things that are not in keeping with being a Christian... If my faith in Christ, if my following Christ has never led me to give up something, then I can conclude that I am not a disciple of Christ, because one is not born a disciple of Christ, one becomes a disciple, and for this to happen there are certain requirements that need to be met. 

To have one’s cake and eat it too – We are syncretic by nature, we are always trying to reconcile the irreconcilables in our lives; we want to be disciples of Christ, but we don't want to give up anything that life has to offer us.

Whose will are you doing?
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.  Luke 5:4-5

They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me… John 14:21

‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven.’  Matthew 7:21

Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother. Mark 3:35

There is a difference between what we should be doing and what we feel like doing. Since our nature is inclined to evil, what we must do is God's will, which comes with a price tag, but after doing God’s will, we realize, and feel deep down, that we have done what is right. On the contrary, when we do what we feel like doing, we might feel good at that moment, but soon after, we feel sad because we have succumbed to our cravings, If we keep doing what we feel like doing and never God’s will, we cannot call ourselves Christians.

My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work (John 4:34) – Like Christ, we too have come into the world to carry out God’s plan. Our food, what nourishes our life, what gives it meaning, as in the case of Jesus, is to carry out that plan. God is the architect of our lives, it is his plan and not ours that we must follow, because God has given us the talents needed for his plan and not for any other.

The Almighty has done great things for me
‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’  Mark 8:29

A Catholic or a Christian is not someone who knows a lot of things about Christ; a Christian is someone who is a witness, someone who has experienced Christ’s salvation or health in his body and soul, someone who has seen his life changed. It is so we can chant like Mary did in the Magnificat, it is how we can personally answer the question: "Who do you say that I am?" 

Pilate called Jesus the king of the Jews, but only because he had heard it said. Many Christians, too, never get to know Christ in their entire life, they never experience him as their Saviour, and everything they know is from what they have heard it said. They know a little of the doctrine which they do not apply, therefore they easily abandon the Church, catechesis and doctrine, and never lead their children to experience Christ.

Psychoanalysis for the practicing Catholic
Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Matthew 6:1

Jesus harshly criticized the Pharisees for fasting, praying, and giving alms to be seen by men, for doing the right thing but for the wrong reasons. Their works were good, but their motivation invalidated these works, because having been fully paid for here, they will no longer be paid in heaven.

In our parishes, this type of Pharisee-like self-righteousness, hypocrisy and vanity is still alive and being practiced. People who do things to be seen -- ministers of communion who do not want to give communion to the sick in their homes, but only in the Church; people who cling to positions of power and control like ticks who don't want to let go; youth leaders who never want to stop being youth leaders, who need the young people more than the young people need them; priests who do not leave the parishes which they may have once served, but now they put those parishes at the service of their self-love.

The "déjà vu" syndrome – People who abuse antibiotics, taking them for anything and everything, run the risk of developing resistance to them, so that, when they are really needed, the antibiotics no longer work. 

The same thing happens to those of us who are very much church-oriented: we get so used to the medicine that it no longer works to improve our spiritual health. As soon as we start hearing the gospel, we switch off our attention, because we think we have already heard it all before. In this way there is no salvation for us, because with the habit and routine, we have nullified the saving power of the gospel, and now we are lost, because there is no other word of eternal life.

Conclusion – If you say that you are a Christian but have never suffered for the gospel, either the world is Christian, or you are not. 

Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC