How do you want to die? If the Lord really gave you the choice, what would you choose? Most people say something like, "at home in my sleep", but there is always the person who says something like, "skydiving" or "in a blaze of glory". I read yesterday about a priest in Ecuador who died while saying Mass. Apparently the large crucifix over the altar fell on him and killed him. I am not going to speculate (and I hope no one else does either) if there is some divine significance in that one.
Staying with just the fact that he passed while saying Mass, it reminded me that this was asked of me once, "Father, how do you want to die?" (No, the person was not offering to assist with bringing it about sooner rather than later!). My first thought was "while saying Mass" but then I thought better of it. I realized that unless it was at the time of the Second Coming, if I died in Mass, then it would probably cause all kinds of trauma in the little kids who were present. Yeah, that is not ideal.
I once asked my wife how she would feel if I died in a motorcycle accident. Her response? "I guess I would know you were doing something you enjoyed". Being able to talk about death is important, but it has to be in the right manner. In a college class (that I would like to forget) we were asked to speculate about what we imagined to be the worst way to die. Although that teacher should probably have been disciplined for asking that of the students, it was an important question. "Why?" you may ask. It was important because most of us wish to avoid any thoughts of death.
We have worked to remove death from our view. Yet, death is a part of this fallen creation, and if we truly do remove it from our visual experience, our souls will suffer for it. Knowing the reality of death is good for us; "memento mori" is not merely a slogan of reckless motorcyclists! We are supposed to be working toward a "good death"; yet most Catholics have forgotten that beautiful truth. A "good death" is where we are in a state of grace, and are in love and communion with our neighbors.
We certainly do not need to obsess about death, but when we refuse to acknowledge the reality of it, then we will always fall into all kinds of confusion about it (like the enormous numbers of morbid movies where death and suffering is glorified). Yet, we do need to be thinking about it on occasion. We need to seek to prepare for that "good death" and make sure that we realize we will all have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ someday.
Thus, please do not become like those people who seem to "love death", but also keep yourself from falling into the constant fear of death (as though that were the worst thing that can happen to us!). Instead, allow the reality of death to humble you, and keep you striving to be obedient to God. Be willing to discuss it with respect and wisdom. It is truly the only way that we rightly prepare ourselves for "that day".