IMPERISHABLE LIFE.

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME. YEAR B.
July 2, 2006.
(First reading: Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24) (Psalm 30:2-6, 11-13)
(Second reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15) (Gospel: Mark 5:21-43)

IMPERISHABLE LIFE.

"God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him" (Wisdom 2:23). Thus, man's original condition is one of fulness of life, life never-ending. "But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are in his possession experience it" (Wisdom 2:24).

The Book of Wisdom also states that, "God does not rejoice in the destruction of the living for he fashioned all things so that they might have being". Consequently, once man falls prey of death, then God in his justice restores the flow of life between him and man for "God's justice is undying".

The gospel today shows Jesus reopening the gates of life so that it may once again flow from him to a suffering and dying humanity:
- Jesus restores health to "a woman who had been afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse".

- Jesus restored life to "the daughter of one of the synagogue officials named Jairus".

Through visible signs the Lord Jesus brings back health and life to those who suffer, to those who are dead in order to demonstrate to the human race that just as he can restore physical and temporal life, so can he also restore spiritual and imperishable life.

In God's justice this restoration is offer generously and freely to all human beings who are willing to live the life of Jesus, a life of compassion, of peace, of concern for all.

Man's response to the gift of God's life.
The gospel presents two ways of responding to the gift of God's life:

- Some, like the sick woman, may respond with faith, with the courage to defy all obstacles, all crowds in order to get close to Jesus and "touch his cloak".

- Others, like those who were "weeping and wailing loudly" in the house of Jairus, may respond with incredulity and will even "ridicule Jesus".

Those "weeping and wailing" do not accept the life that Jesus brings to humankind, they are the powerful rulers, tyrants and bullish oppressors who control the world; through them "death enters the world for the devil has taken possession of them" (Wisdom 2:24). They are the ones who spread inequality, exploitation and injustice; they are the ones in "whose hands people suffer greatly" (Mark 5:26); they are the ones in whose hands social illnesses "only grow worse" (Mark 5:26).

As the imperishable life of Jesus flows from him to humanity, we, human beings are enriched and attain equality among ourselves by the fact that we are all recipients of his life.
Saint Paul in his Second Letter to the Corinthians tells us that humanity's richness is measured by the life of Jesus in us: "You know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich" (2 Cor. 8:9).

It is, therefore, Jesus' imperishable life in us what makes us equal, and we, in turn, must live with one another as equals in every respect.

This is how Saint Paul presents that basic human equality: "Your surplus at the present time should supply the needs of those who are burdened, so that [in turn] their surplus may also supply your needs [when you are burdened], that there may be equality. As it is written:
'Whoever had much did not have more,
and whoever had little did not have less'" (2 Cor. 8:14-15)

The imperishable life of Jesus makes us all equal both in heaven and earth.
Just as we must live as equals in this world, so must we also live as equals within the "Communion of Saints" for the saints come to our aid to supply our needs for life whenever there is a lack of it in us.

As we share the life of Christ here on earth and in heaven, we can rightly say: "O Lord my God, I will thank you for ever" (Psalm 30:13) because it is for ever that we possess your imperishable life.