Tuticorin bishop says fear life without love, justice, God – not death

TUTICORIN, Tamil Nadu (Indian Catholic News) ­— Bishop Stephen Antony Pillai of Tuticorin says Christians should focus on Christ’s resurrection rather than fear death, urging them to fear lives without love, justice and God.

In a reflection titled “Death: From Fear to Faith, From End to Beginning,” published in the November 2026 issue of Internos, the diocesan bulletin, the bishop explores the Christian understanding of death as a passage to eternal life rather than the end of human existence.

“Death is a problem for many. No one wants to die,” he writes, observing that people spend their lives trying to escape death through hospitals, medicines and prayers for long life.

Yet death remains unavoidable. People fear it because they see it as the end of their dreams, relationships and work.

For Christians, however, “death is not the end. It is a beginning of new life,” Bishop Pillai says. The believer knows that “the God who gave him life will not abandon him in death.”

Resurrection stands at heart of Christian faith

The bishop traces the development of belief in resurrection from the Old Testament to its fulfilment in Jesus Christ.

While death was initially understood as a consequence of sin and associated with separation from the living, the writings of the Old Testament gradually introduced the hope of resurrection.

He cites the mother of the seven brothers in the Second Book of Maccabees, who encouraged her sons to remain faithful even in the face of death, believing that “the Creator of the world will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again.”

The prophet Daniel also proclaimed that “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life.”

For Bishop Pillai, these biblical accounts prepare the way for the central Christian conviction that death has been conquered through Jesus. “The centre of our Christian faith is not death, but the death and resurrection of Jesus,” he writes.

Jesus experienced the pain and abandonment of death on the cross, but “on the third day, He rose.” His resurrection transforms human death from an eternal separation into “a Passover from this life to eternal life.”

Quoting Jesus’ words in John’s Gospel, the bishop recalls, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.”

Romero’s witness shows courage of resurrection faith

Bishop Pillai points to St. Oscar Romero, the archbishop of El Salvador who was threatened with death for speaking out on behalf of the poor.

When officials threatened to kill him if he continued raising his voice for the poor, Romero replied, “I am not afraid of death. I am a Christian, I do not believe in a death without resurrection.”

He also declared, “After my death, I shall resurrect to be with the Lord. I shall be born again in my people. I shall be alive in their struggle for freedom, and human dignity.”

Romero was subsequently shot dead while celebrating Mass.

The bishop describes his martyrdom as a victory rather than a defeat, saying his voice became louder after his death. “He died because he spoke for the poor, because he refused to remain silent while his people were oppressed,” Bishop Pillai writes.

For Christians, he says, living for truth and justice means that their message of love continues even after their physical death.

Life must be written through love and service

Reflecting on the responsibility that comes with human life, Bishop Pillai says God determines the beginning and end of each person’s earthly existence, but people are responsible for what they do in between.

“Our birth and death have been written by God; it is our duty to write the content of the life in between,” he writes. Some people spend their lives pursuing money, power and pleasure, while others choose “love, service, and sacrifice.”

Quoting Psalm 90, he reminds Christians to “count our days, that we may gain a wise heart,” describing life as a gift entrusted to humanity by God.

The bishop connects this responsibility with Jesus’ teaching on the final judgement in Matthew’s Gospel, which emphasises love expressed through concrete actions.

“When we feed the hungry, when we visit the sick, when we stand for the poor, we are not doing social work. We are meeting Christ Himself,” he writes.

He says the final judgement is not about rituals but “about love in action,” with the Kingdom promised to those who recognise Christ in the poor.

Communion of saints keeps the dead close

Bishop Pillai describes November, when Catholics remember the dead, as a time to renew their belief in the Communion of Saints.

Catholics visit graves, light candles and offer Masses for their deceased loved ones. They grieve because they love them but also rejoice in the belief that they remain alive in God.

“Death does not break our communion,” he writes. “Our dead are not far from us. They are with God, and they pray for us, just as we pray for them.”

The bishop explains that the Church comprises the saints in heaven, souls in purgatory and believers on earth, united as one Body of Christ.

He describes purgatory as an expression of God’s mercy, through which those who die in God’s grace but are not fully purified are prepared to enter the fullness of God’s presence.

Prayers, Mass offerings and sacrifices can help the departed, he says.

Christians called to live without fear

Drawing on St. Paul’s teaching, Bishop Pillai describes death not as annihilation but as the passage to being with Christ. “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain,” Paul writes in his Letter to the Philippians.

The bishop says Christians should not grieve like those without hope because they believe that Jesus died and rose again and that God will bring with him those who have died.

He concludes by challenging believers to examine how they use the time given to them and whether their lives reflect love, service and faith. “The man who lives only for himself dies completely. The man who lives for others never dies,” he writes.

His final appeal is a reminder that Christian life must be shaped by the values that overcome death itself. “Therefore, let us not fear death. Let us fear a life lived without love, without justice, and without God,” Bishop Pillai writes.

He urges Christians to live each day with love for the poor, respect for human dignity and faith in the risen Lord, so that death becomes not an enemy but “our friend, who will take us home to the Father.”

Read the full reflection.