“For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.”
The past few days of readings have been about death. Today we hear that death is gain and yesterday we heard that we are baptized into Christ’s death. All this death talk seems like a lot of doom and gloom, after all, death is not something that we enjoy, so how can it be something that we gain and something we are baptized into?
Do you remember the movie Alladin? At the end of the movie Jafar, the villain of the film, asks to become the most powerful genie in the entire world. Alladin grabs the lamp and reaches it to the sky as Jafar spirals into his new prison because if you have seen the movie, you know that if you are going to be a genie, you have to accept everything that goes with it. It can seem this way with death too.
As human beings, death is now a part of us, and we have to accept everything that goes with it. When we were born, we inherited the death that Adam and Eve brought into the world through sin. We lost our inheritance of perfect love with God and each other. This seems like something that enslaves us and certainly does not seem like a positive thing. So why all this talk about being baptized into Christ’s death?
Well, death can only be seen as a positive thing in this world through the lens of the cross. If we think of Christ as the new Adam who has come into the world to mend our relationship with God, then it makes sense to be baptized into His death. After all, Christ’s death is the fact that He conquered it and rose. This is what we are baptized into.
St. John Paul II once said, “He (man) is called in that truth which has been his heritage from the beginning, the heritage of his heart, which is deeper than the sinfulness inherited.” What he is saying here is that our inheritance of grace and love of God and neighbor goes far deeper than the inheritance of original sin. What Christ has done on the cross is brought us back into this inheritance that we long for, while destroying the inhertiance of sin through His ressurection. This indeed is cause for great joy.
Let us thank God for the gift of the cross, the gift that allows us to live by the original love and truth that we were given from the beginning, before sin and before death. Amen!
“For we are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song!”
-St. John Paul II
Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.
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