Genesis 49:29-33; 50:15-26 / Matthew 10:24-38 (2021 / 2023)
If we were to ask ourselves this question - Am I afraid of death? - how honestly can we answer that question?
Whatever the answer may be, it is inevitable that that is some apprehension, if not fear, about death.
Because no one whom we know of (except Jesus of course) ever came back to tell us of what lies beyond the door of death.
In the 1st reading we hear of two people who knew that the time of their death was coming up.
And they even said it as a matter of fact - Jacob said : I am about to be gathered to my people ; and later Joseph would say : I am about to die.
They seemed to talk about and take death as a part of life. They don't seem to be apprehensive or fear death. Maybe because they know who they would be returning to when their life on earth is over.
In fact the ones that seemed to fear death are the ones who are left behind on earth.
Joseph's brothers feared that with the death of their father, Joseph would now take revenge for all the harm they had done to him before.
In the gospel, Jesus urged His disciples not to be afraid (3 times even).
We become afraid when we forget who is looking after us and what we should do in life in order to prepare for death.
Yes, in forgetting we fear. So let us remember what Jesus has taught us about life, and He will remember us when we face our death.