June 30
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.”
Readings
Reflection
One of the biggest fears of our lives– if not THE greatest fear–is death. We are born into this world, and then we continue through it on our way to the inevitable time where we will leave it. For many, this concept is always at the center of their thinking. For example, there are the people who say; “You only live once,” and think that they have to experience everything they can possibly think of because they will die someday. To them, any thought of the afterlife is simply not conceivable. But to those who have faith, the thought of Life Everlasting is more than just a possibility, it is a certainty. And this certainty is focused on one person–Jesus Christ.
Our readings this weekend speak to the idea that death was never God’s plan when he created the world. The reading from the Book of Wisdom states categorically that God did not make death, that it came through the work of Satan, who seeks to destroy everything good that God created. The Gospel from Mark points out the power that Jesus has over death, when he raises a twelve-year-old girl from death to life. St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians focuses on poverty and on being poor. He writes, “for your sake Jesus became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” It is important to remember that Jesus came to us from heaven, and experienced everything we experience, including death. St. Paul alludes to this because he wants to point out the idea that death and poverty are similar. If we look closely at both, we recognize that death is the ultimate form of poverty. Death strips us not only of our material possessions, but also of our relationships and of our own lives. In death, we leave behind not just our money and goods, but also our friends and family.
How glad we are that Jesus has triumphed over death in his resurrection and in raising people from the dead. We have faith that when we experience the end of our lives we will be like him. We will rise, we will triumph over death through the power of the incarnation. God did not make death, and He will prove it when He raises us to new life in heaven.
Keep the faith,
Deacon Dare
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