6th Sunday after Pentecost 4.7.21 Death to Life
Imagine you are on a sinking ship, and you promise to God that if He spares your life you will obey Him in all things for evermore.
It may be such a promise is motivated more by fear than love. When we have regained dry land our gratitude and desire to make amends might cool off very quickly.
This is what happened to Israel when they were released from Egypt. Their celebrations very quickly turned to complaints and rebellion.
We have been rescued from something worse than a sinking ship, and worse than physical slavery. We have been rescued from sin and death, that is, eternal death.
When we were baptized we died with Christ and we rose with Him (Rom 6,4), now setting out on a path of holiness which would culminate in Heaven itself.
At that moment we are promising to God that we will do anything He asks of us. We are promising out of a sense of gratitude that He has rescued us.
In doing so, we are setting ourselves to a high standard of attitude and behaviour.
It is not just a general improvement called for, but a radical healing of sin and all its effects.
You were dead, says St Paul, and now you are alive (cf Eph 2,5).
There is a great contrast between death and life. Post-baptismal life has broken with the pre-Baptism sins.
Unfortunately, we do not generally put this into practice. Many are baptized but how many really take it as seriously as it is meant?
In the spiritual world we become accustomed to falling short of our good intentions.
It is one thing to sin and be forgiven for that sin; but another to accept the sin as ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’.
We avail ourselves of God's mercy but we do not take that mercy as an excuse for slackness on our part.
Baptism has been reduced for many to a social ceremony, another chance to celebrate, a very bland event all round.
Is anyone at a typical baptism ceremony thinking in terms of shedding blood for the sake of the Kingdom of God?
Is anyone resolving to work on areas of fault and weakness to become a strong disciple of Christ?
It is not just Baptism where we have sunk into mediocrity, but the same can apply to all sacraments, and all Catholic life.
Our faith makes sense only when it is seen in its full force. If we become Catholic just to stay the same as we were before, or the same as everyone else is, then there is not much point.
We are meant to see ourselves as dead men brought back to life. On death row and pardoned at the last minute. We can walk free, but we must not forget, like the nine lepers who never came back (Lk 17,17).
It is made more difficult by the general lack of interest in spiritual matters. If you are going to be a serious Catholic then you are probably going to be on your own a lot! In the current climate.
But part of being a disciple is being resilient, loyal, faithful to the end. We can cope with being a minority; we can cope with having to wait for the Master to return; and much else, not excluding suffering and death.
This is the only way we can make sense of our faith. An aeroplane has to commit to taking off if it is ever to reach its destination. In a similar way we must launch ourselves in the Lord’s service.
Many hold back through fear of what real discipleship could mean. Our Lord promises He will look after us. There will be some hair-raising moments, but we will come through them all with His help.
We get stronger with each trial and less afraid; so we come to be what we are – disciples of Christ, children of God, reborn to eternal life. We are alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 6,11).
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