It is literally a matter of life and death. All the questions that hit us when we think about life, come up in the Readings today – including the question of death. Life and death are so inextricably linked that we can say that death is one of the great events of life. And for us Christians, this is a matter of hope, as it makes of death a comma, not a full stop; life continues when we cross on to the other side, where we are destined to enjoy the beatific vision.
It was very symbolic, then, that Jesus in the Gospel text (Mk 5: 21-43) crossed in the boat to the other side, and there came Jairus, who had once sought Jesus’ help on behalf of the Roman centurion. This time, he feared for his own little daughter who was at the point of death. The head of the synagogue fell at the feet of the Master, whose divinity he unwittingly admitted. In fact, by the time Jesus got to his house, the girl was dead. Apparently, Jesus was ‘late’, and not only did the disciples think it pointless for Him to proceed to Jairus’ house, even the people laughed at Him for saying that the little girl was ‘not dead but sleeping.’
Of course, the Author of Life knew better. He said, ‘Talitha, cumi: Little girl, I say to you, arise!’ and the twelve-year old sprang to her feet and walked. The Evangelist observes that ‘they were overcome with amazement.’ Which is the same with us today, yet, we dread any talk of death, as though it is the end, not a continuation, of life. In disregard of Jesus’ exhortation ‘Do not fear, only believe’, we sometimes fail to believe but never fail to fear. No wonder, ghastly thoughts assail us.
Piqued by his young soldier friend who died in the war, British poet Wilfred Owen, wrote ‘Futility’, asking, ‘Was it for this the clay grew tall?’ Yes, humanly speaking, it is natural to not want to die; but then, can’t we accept its inevitability? This would be half the battle won; and once we accept that death, even though not the hour, is certain, we would begin to trust and rejoice in the Lord. He is the Alpha and the Omega; the Way, the Truth, and the Life. ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life,’ He said, ‘He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies’ (Jn 11: 25-26). That is why in the Apostles’ Creed we say: ‘the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.’ ‘I Believe’, we call it, not ‘I Fear’!
This is the Good News of Salvation, true wisdom indeed. And the First Reading from the Book of Wisdom (1: 13-15; 2: 23-24) makes it clear that ‘God did not make death, and He does not delight in the death of the living… God created man for incorruption, and made him in the image of His own eternity, but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his party experience it.’
That is to say, God had not destined man to die; death was contrary to the plans of God the Creator, and entered the world through Original Sin. (Cf. CCC # 1008) It was of our first parents’ making, which has brought us untold suffering. No doubt, there is a lot of good in the world, but there is also a lot of suffering; as a result of which, to eventually die is a relief – ‘a remedy’ as St Ambrose calls it!
Nonetheless, we are, like Job, faced with the question of life and death. Given our limitedness, we fail to handle it with confidence. It would be better, then, to put a positive spin on it, praise God and trust in Him rather than in the world. At every moment of our life, He rescues us from evil, as he did to the bleeding woman in the Gospel, who had touched his garment in deep faith. We must admit that with sin, ingratitude has crept into human nature: it blinds us to the truth, but as the Psalm reminds us, God it is who helps us without ceasing and changes our mourning into dancing.
The secret of a wise and happy life, then, lies in believing and trusting in the Good Lord who made Heaven and Earth; and in giving relief to our less fortunate brethren, in having due concern for their material and spiritual good. St Paul in the Second Reading (2 Cor 8: 7, 9, 13-15) stresses that our excellence in faith, utterance, knowledge, earnestness and love, must be accompanied by such gracious work. Of Our Lord he says that, ‘though He was rich, yet for your sake He came poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.’
Never mind what may look like contradictions to the worldly wise, we must shun thought processes that are earthly. Indeed, to us who believe in Him, the mockery or the poverty we suffer is a guarantee of the blessedness and riches we will enjoy. When we die to this world, we are born to Heaven. This is very literally a matter of life and death.