God Did Not Make Death

The readings this weekend deal with Jesus overcoming death. As the Gospel antiphon tells us, "Our savior Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel." In the Gospel, we hear a story of a little girl who died. However, when Jesus approaches the girl He says that she is not dead but just asleep. Jesus was ridiculed for this. They probably thought: "Didn't Jesus know that death was just a natural part of life?" Yet according to the book of Wisdom read today: "God did not make death...He fashioned all things that they might have being...God formed man to be imperishable." Death was not part of the plan. Death was not supposed to be a natural part of human life. Death occurred because we chose to follow the devil and disobey God. To cure us from death, Jesus has taught us to reject the devil and obey God instead. If we stop obeying the devil and obey God, we start to live with Jesus. And if we start to live with Jesus, we begin the journey of overcoming death. If we start to live with Jesus, we will experience His same joys, sorrows, and sufferings in this life. However, we can also hope to experience a share of his glory that Jesus experienced after triumphing over the devil by being obedient to His Father on the cross. And if we are obedient to our Father in heaven, we too will rise with Jesus. God bless, Fr. Scott