1 July 2018
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Death seems so basic. Just a tragic part of life. We assume that death is inevitable, and that when it happens, it is irreversible. When Jesus is on his way to heal a sick girl, word comes that she is dead. Jesus continues, noting that she is “not dead, but asleep” (Mk. 5:39). He tells the people that death is not nearly as permanent as they might think, and is mocked. But the girl is raised, death is undone, and the people are amazed.
The first reading tells us that “God formed man to be imperishable” (Wis. 2:23). Death, that thing we take to be such a basic part of reality, was never meant to be at all. We were not made to be creatures that die, but creatures that live. Since death is not essential to the human condition, it can be removed from the human condition by the power of God.
C.S. Lewis wrote that “God finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.” Among our various desires, would we ever dare to dream of a world without death, or would we be like the crowds today, mocking Jesus for wanting to wake a girl from death? Wanting a deathless world is no pipe-dream, even if death seems inevitable. Jesus comes to each of us to say that what we think is a permanent end to existence is no more substantial than an afternoon nap. If we want, we can follow Him and awaken.