Reflections from the Heart – June 30, 2024

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. Ivan Olmo

“God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.” God is not dead. Did you know that? How sad it is to have to say, mention or remind others that God is not dead but he is alive. Jesus is risen, truly risen indeed. God is truly alive and eternal for Jesus himself says to those who are misread and misled, that God “is not the God of the dead but of the living.” All are alive in Christ. For scripture asks, “Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death… so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.” Scripture acknowledges that God did not make death but rather that “death came through a man,” Adam and just like Adam, all die. It is a reminder that the consequence of sin is death. The result of the initial disobedience to God’s will to preserve life in unity, obedience and peace caused the devastating fall from grace and a fatal separation from God’s holy dwelling and divine presence. A terrible separation that brought forth the depths of darkness, despair, desolation and death into our world and into our lives. However, for love of creation and for the grace of salvation, God, in his great love for us, sent his Only Begotten Son, Jesus to conquer the sadness of sin and death and manifest the joy of the Resurrection to eternal life. Now we gladly proclaim and profess in confidence and in great faith that “the resurrection of the dead came also through man,” Jesus, and just like Jesus, all are alive and will live again forever. Scripture goes on to testify, “That Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him” so death has no more power over us. Yes, we will fall asleep but we will also awake and rise again. Not like the dawning of each new day but like the dawning of an everlasting day to which we are born into eternal life, never to fall asleep or experience death again. We believe that because of the selfless sacrifice in obedience to divine will offered by Jesus to the Father, and graciously given through the Holy Spirit, that we shall live again with God for all eternity just as he intended it to be before the dawn of time and the creation of creation. God rejoices in life forever.