Do we celebrate death or life?
Death is not a living thing, but it can certainly seem so for the ones who are alive. It plagues human beings at all ages. It prevails in all cultures and times, in cataclysms of violence and destruction. It disguises itself with the flag of justice, liberty and order. But it lets you feel its might especially when it uses the great temptation of power and wealth.
Death mocks misery and the abandonment of people who suffer on this earth, wreaking havoc with hunger, poverty, sickness; punishing children and young people who are denied their right to education, health and well-being. Death enslaves people who must work to survive and pursues millions who are forced to flee their homeland and become immigrants. They are persecuted, discriminated against and even called illegal and despicable by racist groups.
Death invades our lives with pain, fear, tragedy, terrorism, fanaticism, patriotism and even religion. Groups that worship death are able to manipulate it in order to obtain its favors in return.
Some others use death as a charm for their businesses, a guardian against their enemies and a gateway for their crimes. They use death to silence truth and to threaten justice and to drive away our peace.
It traps those who seek happiness without responsibility, freedom without commitment, and those who “know it all” and “have it all” yet have no moral values. It is a port of entry for alcohol, drugs, sex and superstition. We should not be surprised to hear fanatics preach supernaturalism and doom.
But Christ died to reunite us with our Father. Christ rose from the dead to fight sin and death, and we have been baptized as a sign of Life. So we do not worship death, but the Life that we have through Christ. Therefore, we should profess every day His triumph, His sanctity and His perfection.
Father Fernando Torres