Welcome to our parish

27 June 2021            13^th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

QUALITY OF LIFE

Did you know that they’ve invented some food additives that could keep you living until well past a hundred? All your friends will be dead but at least you’ll still be around with your memories. And scientists have invented a new drug that means you don’t have to eat and drink any more, just three injections a week and two litres of water a day. There are also some pills available that guarantee you’ll die really healthy. Worth trying?

We all want to live; it’s only natural. But what is it that we want to live for? What sort of quality of life do we want? What do we want our days to be filled with?

When Jesus raised people from the dead he added years to their life. But more importantly he added life to their years. For once a person is raised to life in Christ their experience of what life is about and what is on offer can never be the same. To be alive in Christ cannot mean simply living the same life as before, for the life Christ offers is one that is transformed. St Paul was so aware of this that he said, “I live; no, Christ lives in me”. Christian living is about being inhabited, taken over, consumed and hurled into an adventure that sometimes disconcerts but always takes us to the edge of our being. It suspends us in eternity.

So if you’re not excited by life then you’re not living a Christian existence because the life Christ offers is God’s very own. If you don’t appreciate the beauty of God’s world, if you’re not energised by the challenges that face you daily or thrilled at the prospect of meeting new people who themselves are reflections of God’s human imprint, then you may be alive but you’re not living. For life means taking part.

Christian faith takes us off the ventilator and lets us begin breathing with the Spirit’s breath. There is a qualitative difference to Christian life, one that’s not available to those without it. Ours is a blessed existence, one which summons and challenges us to live life to the full in Christ, not to prolong an existence that has been long dead through its dulled deception and disappointment, through its sin and shallowness.

When Jesus raises people from the dead life takes on a new meaning. If not, then it’s probably time for the injections and some more water.

My daughter is desperately sick. Do come and lay your hands on her to make her better and save her life.                                            (Mark 5:23)