Death. It’s not a subject we particularly enjoy discussing. I imagine that for most of us, upon hearing the word ‘death,’ thoughts would flow about what might happen to us when we die. We might think of a loved one who has already passed on and wonder what happened to them. We might associate death with pain, grief, and sadness. Death, to many, is the end. It’s like when the curtains are pulled back in and darkness floods in from every side. The light is extinguished. There is no encore.

There have been many different ideas stemming from various cultures and religious beliefs regarding what happens when we die. Some believe that when we die we are reincarnated, be it as a plant, animal, or even another human being. Some believe that the so-called ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ is the light emitting from the hospital room where we are being born as a different human being, and that the reason we cry when we are born is because we have just died in our old life. Others believe that we are just trying to get out of a never-ending cycle of life and death.

But, while some may think that when we die the screen fades to black and that’s that, this is not what death is.

Death is so much more than just an ending. It’s a new beginning. It is something we all inevitably must face, but it does not have to be something we face with fear.

I think it is almost a natural human instinct to fear death, especially in the age we are currently living in. We live in a world where everyone wants to be their own god, where God is viewed as nothing more than a mythological figure, a fairy tale that people believe to make themselves feel better. It actually makes a lot of sense that fear has taken such a hold in a Godless society, a fallen world that is obsessed with sinful things and pleasures that will not reach beyond the earthly plane.

Now that does not mean that it is a bad thing to be fearful of death. It is perfectly normal to worry about what is going to happen after you die. In fact, I think much of the time we start to focus on how our families will fare. Will they be ok without us? Will we have done everything we can for them? We wonder how others will be impacted by our death.

While this is all understandable, our focus should be on something else: life.

What a paradox, right?

It is pretty astounding how much we can get caught up worrying about death that we actually forget to live.

If we are contemplating death, we should consider the life we want to have lived before we inevitably depart this world. Have we lived a life of service to others? Have we done our utmost best to shine a light in a world that is clouded by darkness. Are we holding onto any grudges, or anything for that matter, that we need to let go of before leaving our earthly lives behind? Have we, truly, lived a good life?

And, particularly for Christians, have we lived a life worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven?

They’re hard-pressing questions. That is the way they are supposed to be. They are supposed to really force you to reflect deeply and consider whether there are any changes you need to make to your life, no matter how small, so that you can say at the end of this earthly pilgrimage that you lived the best life you possibly could.

In order to live a good life, we need to die unto ourselves.

I think that, in a world where we have become so attached to things, we have also become attached to parts of ourselves that are weighing us down, parts of ourselves that are eating away at us and causing us, or those near to us, great hurt or discomfort. When we do this, those parts of us hang over us like dark storm clouds. They blot out the light of our hearts, minds, and souls, darkening them and turning us away from what enlightens them. Not only do such attachments make it difficult for us to live a good life, they make it difficult for us to live at all.

To be able to live the good life in the hope of attaining eternal life face-to-face with our Creator in the Kingdom, we must detach ourselves from these parts of our being and allow them to die. This is never going to be all that easy to accomplish. It can take hard work and persistence to finally achieve the desired result. These parts of us can become so ingrained in our being that allowing them to die is akin to chopping off a hand.

For many, death to self is not likely to be an overnight phenomenon. It is more probable that it will be a process that may take a little longer to complete. In fact, it might just take a few attempts to finally detach yourself and allow the part of your being that is holding you back to die off. But it will undoubtedly be worth it.

Why?

Because with death comes new life.

It is a theme we see recurring throughout the books of the Bible. John, in his Gospel, writes of an occasion on which Jesus’ presence is requested by some Greeks. When Andrew and Philip tell this to Jesus, he speaks of the grain of wheat:

‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.’ (John 12:24)

St Paul in his letter to the Ephesians writes:

‘You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.’ (Eph 4:22-24)

Of course, the greatest example of the new life that comes with death is the great sacrifice of Christ. Jesus appeared to have died, but on the third day he rose to new life, granting us the opportunity to do the same.

When we die to ourselves and cut off those parts of our being that are not allowing us to live a truly good life, other good parts of our inmost selves can begin to flourish. It is like we are removing the weeds from the gardens of our souls so that the flowers that were being choked can now grow and bloom, creating a beautiful array of virtue.

Death actually plays such an important role in our lives. Not only does it help us to understand life, it helps us to attain it. When a loved one dies, we mourn their loss. But in mourning we also often remember the life they lived, particularly the good memories we shared with them, the good that they did in their lives to enhance our own. When we allow a part of ourselves to die, we may also mourn it, especially if we were greatly attached to it. But we are consoled by the new life that flows within us.

You may remember that I recently mentioned the Venerable Bruno Lanteri, a priest who had a motto for living his life well: Nunc Coepi – ‘Today, I Begin.’ Each and every day we must die to ourselves and begin again anew.

For death is not the end. It is merely the end of the beginning.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Sydney Catholic Youth Purpose Conference. I had the great pleasure of hearing Jason Evert, founder of the Chastity Project, and Matt Fradd, host of popular Catholic podcast Pints with Aquinas, speak on the topics of gender, sexuality, chastity, living the Catholic life, culture, and the Church. I also had the privilege of being in the audience for a live version of Pints with Aquinas.

There was so much to take in from the Conference, and while I’d love to discuss every single thing that Matt and Jason spoke about – because the content was so good – there were two points that really stuck with me. One of these came from Matt, the other from the Archbishop of Sydney, Archbishop Anthony Fisher.

I want to touch first on Matt’s point. In his second talk, Matt noted seven key things that each of us – especially the Christians among us – should do. While all seven were fantastic, one of them really stood out for me.

“Find a bubble.”

Oftentimes we are told not to live in a bubble. We are given the impression that doing so can be isolating, that it can insulate us against the world. While, to a degree, this may be true, the negatives do not outweigh the benefits.

To expand a little on Matt’s point, he noted the importance of finding a good Christian community, a community that you can be yourself with, that will support you and be there for you when you need it. Really, it’s a community that you feel at home with. This is your ‘bubble.’

Being in such a bubble isn’t isolating. It’s actually incredibly liberating. It gives you the freedom to be who you are, to be raw, open, and honest. You are among people who you know you can trust. You all support each other in times of celebration and times of sorrow. No matter what, you know you have someone to lean on, and they know they can lean on you when they need it.

Having been in the realm of social and political commentary, there have been countless times that I have heard people say that we should avoid echo chambers. They say that if you get caught up in an echo chamber you’ll never come into contact with other ideas and different people.

Again, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to be within an echo chamber. What if this echo chamber is reinforcing the positivity in your life? What if it’s full of good and decent people, of virtuous beliefs and ideas?

If you’re living in an echo chamber like this, a ‘bubble’ with people who want to build you up while you do the same for them, chances are you’re all going to grow in virtue, faith, and goodness.

This is not to say that you’re never going to be exposed to ideas outside of your own. Part of the mission of a Christian is to go out into the world and speak with others, to evangelize, to catechise, and to sacramentalise. It is inevitable that, in carrying out this mission, you will come across people who hold different views and values to you. They might even be the complete opposite. But it is so important as Christians that we are open to listening to them and then conversing with them. Jason Evert, speaking on the issue of gender-fluidity and transgenderism, noted the importance of not only being the mouth of Christ, but also the ears of Christ. It is just as important, even more so, for us to listen as to speak. Many people have wounds that are not visible on the outside. Sometimes all they need is for someone to listen to them.

The culture that has taken hold of the world today is not all that pleasant. There are so many destructive acts and ideologies that are wrapped up in bows and given names that do not accurately describe them. For example, abortion is called ‘women’s healthcare.’ Healthcare would imply it is benefiting the health of an individual in order to maintain human life. Yet abortion is the leading cause of death, with tens of millions of innocent human lives cruelly taken each year.

Another example is the rampant hookup culture that plagues this world. As Matt said, people now just call this ‘sleeping together.’ That makes it sound so harmless. But it’s more than that. It is the devaluing of each other as human beings. Hookup culture just demonstrates that people are not valuing others for who they are. Rather, all they care about is using the other person’s body. Human beings are more than our bodies. We all possess a soul. We all possess unique qualities that make us who we are. We were created for a greater purpose than just to be used and to use each other.

The issue with our culture is that it has become so much more focused on how we can satiate our own selfish and meaningless desires, things that will only give us temporary pleasure. In order to maintain such pleasure, we have to continue to repeat and pursue the acts that allow us to achieve them. But eventually these acts will become tiresome and dull. Eventually, pleasure will give way to pain, to a state of bleakness or depression which will wash over the individual and conquer them.

And this goes to Archbishop Fisher’s point. In his interview with Matt and Jason on the live episode of Pints with Aquinas, the Archbishop spoke to how entrenched we can become in things that really don’t matter. He observed how we can start off looking for one thing on the internet, and then several clicks later we find ourselves somewhere far away from what we were originally searching for.

He also noted how people say they need to watch or read the news. He said that, most of the time, people are not doing this because they need to be informed of what is happening, but because it is entertainment. He went on to note how so much of the media is more focused on entertainment value rather than impartial information.

This really struck me. And I think it is something we all need to take heed of. Many of the ‘news’ stories we see or read focus on things we really don’t need to know about. A lot of ‘news’ these days is just people sharing their opinions and berating others. I think we really need to consider what we’re consuming, and, for those of us who write, what we’re putting out into the world and the impact it will have.

Over this last year, I have grown so much more deeply in my faith. I’ll go into this a bit more in my Year in Review, but I think it would be pertinent to mention a few details for the sake of what I’m discussing here.

I have been so fortunate to grow closer with other Catholics, to find a community that is so generous and supportive. I have grown in my friendships with other young Catholics who I am so privileged to know and who I thank God for every day. There have been several things that have happened this year that have really put everything into perspective for me. I thought I was pretty certain about some things, but sometimes God throws you a curveball and you start to learn what really matters.

I think it’s been about three or four months since I’ve actually written anything. Reflecting on the past few months, apart from the business of life, I think part of that was because I was really trying to figure out who I wanted to be as a writer. Again, that’s something I’ll go into more in my Year in Review, but I can say that spending time with friends, being part of a good community, and helping out with events within that community has really shown me what matters most.

I think I was struck by what Matt said because the world I’ve been living in has taught me that living in a bubble is a bad thing. And sure, it can be if that bubble consists of you and negative thoughts alone. That kind of bubble is small and isolated.

But after attending Purpose Conference, being among other young people who love God, love their faith, and want to build each other up, spending time with good friends, making new ones, and meeting others who are each walking the same path towards the Kingdom of God in different ways, I think I’ve found my bubble, and I’m so happy to be living in it.

Because this is our purpose as human beings – to bring light into the world, to find community and use our unique talents to help build up the Kingdom in whatever way we can, to be a listening ear, to help those who are struggling, to cultivate meaningful friendships and relationships. All of these things contribute to our highest goal, our ultimate purpose – to serve God and attain the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Venerable Bruno Lanteri had a motto that he used throughout his life of service to the Church as a priest: ‘Nunc Coepi.’ This translates to ‘Now I Begin.’ In a letter he wrote to a religious sister, Lanteri elaborated on what the phrase means:

‘Say with courage: Nunc Coepi – Now I Begin and walk always in the service of God. Do not keep stopping to look back, because he who looks back cannot hasten forward. Do not content yourself with beginning this year. Begin every day.’

Let us say each day, ‘Nunc Coepi’ and do what we can to be good, kind, and loving servants of God.

May God Bless us all as we walk together on this journey.