At that very hour some Pharisees came, and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.”
Luke 13:31-33

We spent a week with our goddaughters. It is a miracle that they are now living here in Brazil now. It was something completely unexpected. The last time we saw them was in Singapore about ten years ago when they were just 3 and 2. Now they are living in the capital of Brazil and old enough to ask serious questions. They know that we are working with children and teens just like them. Since we are their godparents, they sense a close and yet indirect connection with the homeless children. They were curious about them. They are learning that life is not always fair. One of the many questions they asked about was our personal safety. They wanted to know if our lives were in danger. To be honest, I never thought about it. Well, at least, not recently.

They remembered the time when a mentally-ill woman tried to set me on fire. They asked about this. I did not have much to say about it. It seemed a lot time ago. Strangely, I wasn’t traumatized by the event. There was another occasion where a man attempted to kidnap a woman at the steps of the Cathedral where we sit and wait for the children. It ended with a shoot out and two men dead. One of them was a homeless man who happened to be there and made an attempt to rescue the woman. It occurred exactly at the time when we usually meet the children. However, on that particular day, we had to make an emergency trip to the States because Mary’s mother was seriously ill and she died consequently. The death of a loved one saved us from encountering death in the streets.

During the course of the week, we visited a historic church constructed in the 1700s in a tiny UNESCO Heritage town in a state above São Paulo. The entrance of the church bore the words, Memento Mori which literally means “remember death”. It is a forgotten tradition in modernity. It used to be common for the church to remind us of our personal mortality before we enter the sanctuary.

Today, we pretend that death can be overcome if we don’t talk or think about it. The tradition of “Memento Mori” is contrary to this idea. It tells us that death is inevitable and we encouraged to confront it face to face. The vestiges of this attitude is evident in our Ash Wednesday liturgy; “You are dust and unto dust you shall return.” It is a time of repentance which does not mean feeling sorry for our sin. It is changing our lives. The reality of our impending death helps us evaluate the quality of the life we are living. In many cases, repentance is a salvation from wasting our precious moments away.

One of life’s many paradoxes is that our awareness of our mortality helps us live our lives more completely. This Truth is not restricted to Christianity. Epicurean and Stoic philosophies which were prominent in Jesus’ time also came to the same conclusion.

The Pharisee warned Jesus of an imminent death. It is quite simple. The fear of death is universal. Consequently, it is the best way to control the behavior of someone. Governments use it. Religious authorities use it. Your common criminals use it. Businesses use it. People have constructed their lives around fear. We are convinced that if we live in gated communities, our lives will be secure from a certain death. I live in a neighborhood that is dangerous in the evenings. Therefore, our apartment building has a night guard. Everything is there to ensure us that we are safe from death. Jesus Himself, on several occasions, avoided certain places because it was dangerous for him. There is nothing wrong from keeping ourselves safe. However, we cannot stop living our life in order to be safe from death.

Jesus talked about abundant life. Today, many have reduced abundant life to financial well-being. Neither Jesus nor his disciples were affluent but they lived a complete life. They lived a meaningful existence. Jesus was completely aware of who He is. He was a prophet and healer. He was aware of his imminent death which was intricately linked with his ultimate vocation. The fear of death was not going to hinder him from living His life to the fullness. Jesus discovered His significance in this life and it helped Him to overcome His fear of death. We must not forget that Jesus was 100 percent human like us and therefore, He was subjected to all our fears and weaknesses.

Our mortality is scary. Anyone who says that they are not afraid of death is not really telling the truth or are immature. I used to be one of them. I used to think that I could face death fearlessly. Now, I am older and perhaps a little wiser. The reality of death has dawned upon me. This is a good thing. It is helping me discover my life. Jesus never wasted His time on fear because death was imminent. Instead, He spent His time building upon the foundation of Life. He brought Life to those around him. He spoke the words of healing and forgiveness to those who downtrodden by death. His knowledge of His imminent death transformed Him into an agent of Life to those around Him.

In the streets, death manifests itself in different stages. There are people who spend their whole day in a drunken stupor so that they can avoid facing life. Our children and teens use intoxicants to escape their pain and suffering. There is the danger of violence. There is the presence of hatred which seems to be growing stronger each day. However, in this death-inducing environment, God has opened our eyes to see life. While the world tends to act and believe that death is more powerful than life, the gospel proves otherwise. Death cannot hinder the manifestation of Love revealed in the Gospel. However, in order for us to discover this Truth, we have to cast out our fear of death. We cannot allow our fear dominate our actions. At the same time, we cannot create a artificial premise that when we step out in faith and face the dangers of death, we will escape unscathed. Jesus said,
‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. (John 15:20)

Jesus did not escape death but his death brought life to millions. We are all going to die. Therefore, it is essential that we live our lives in a way that promotes life in this world.

Living an abundant life doesn’t mean living a life in the spotlight. It is just living a Life that is meaningful. The world may not notice what we do or how we live. Our names will not be written in history books. It doesn’t matter. All these things don’t matter when we reflect on our mortality. Our time is short and we have to live our lives in the place God has placed us. We need to move forward and trust that God will show us how to live our lives to the fullness.

Sergio is a young teenager with some mental challenges, who has been spending time with us lately. We are not sure if his challenges are organic or consequences of neglect. He used be one of the most aggressive teens in the streets. He used to get into fights daily and some of the teens were even afraid of him. However, he has changed recently. He has been spending more time with us. He has stopped his aggressive behavior and sometimes he sits and waits for us like yesterday. It was raining and he asked if we could do something together and he insisted that we go to a sheltered area. On the way there, he said quite randomly, “You are very special to me. You are like my parents and uncle and aunty.” He stayed and colored with us for an hour. We discovered what it means to have abundant life in the simple words of Sergio. Death looms around the corner but it cannot overcome Life that is found in Love.