My brothers and sisters in Christ, on this 13th Sun of Ordinary time our 1st reading tells us a truth which is necessary that each one of us comes to believe and know deep down in our hearts. It says, "God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things, that they might have being and all the creatures of the world are wholesome". God is the author of life, God delights in the living.
The Psalms tell us: let everything that has breath, praise the Lord. Every living thing gives praise and glory to God. All the plants and flowers in the fields, the trees in the forest, the fish in the sea give praise to God. The birds in the air sing songs of sweet melodies to God. Every creature glorifies the Lord simply by living, simply by being who God made them to be. And there is nothing lacking in any of God's creatures, God has made them whole. God made them exactly how He wanted them. All of creation is ordered so perfectly, as only a perfect Creator could do.
God delights in the living, and all creation by their being alive gives praise to God; but the amazement of God's creation is not complete though. For a God who is so generous and so life giving as our God is, it is not enough just to sit back and enjoy creation by Himself, but God wanted to create a being who can know and appreciate all the He had made, who can share in the glory and love. Our 1st reading goes on to say, "God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him". Indeed, although there is a natural cycle of life in the animals and plants, God made human beings to be imperishable, to never die. And made man in his own nature, just as God in the depth of who He is delights in all He had made, God made man in his nature to share in that same delight. All the other creatures cannot share in that delight, they cannot recognize or appreciate the order that is in creation or even know the life giving and generous God who created it all as we can.
All of creation gives praise to God simply by their being alive, but we can choose to recognize it all and give praise to God. And it is that ability to choose which God delights in in creating us. Our first parents took God for granted and chose not to give God praise and glory by choosing not to appreciate the wonder of creation and of God Himself. And by that tragic choice, death entered the world. Although all of creation still gives glory to God simply by being alive, the heart of God is saddened by his prized creation choosing death over life. The heart of God is saddened whenever we choose not to recognize the life and love God has given all of creation and especially to us. The heart of God is saddened by us not accepting how God made us and instead seeking happiness and love in other places. The heart of God is saddened whenever we do not choose to love Him, and thus we choose death upon us.
But what is the love of God to do, stop loving us, stop loving and delighting in the way He made us. How can God who delights in life, and out of love and complete generosity made and rejoices in all of creation, including us even still, suddenly stop being who He is, suddenly stop loving even though his love is not appreciated or reciprocated. No, thanks be to God, God does not stop being who He is. He does not stop loving his creation, but he continues to pour out his love and generously continues to give life to us. Although his prized creation chose against His love and chose death, God has done all He can, He has made love and life possible again. God has not taken the choice away from us, hoping that one day we will choose to accept His love and generosity and love Him in return.
For Scripture tells us, God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son, so that all who believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life. For He came so that we can have life, and have life to the full. St. Paul, in our 2nd reading, urges us in this choosing. He urges us to excel in every respect in faith, in knowledge, and in earnestness, and know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich".
Do you know the love of God? Do you know the wholeness in which you are created, or are you still searching for that something to complete you? Are you happy with who you are, with who God made you to be, or are you saddened by how things are in life? Do you know that God delights in you? Do you know that God, who in giving of Himself in poverty, has done everything so that you and I can become rich in love and happiness? Do you know that life only comes through giving of self, or are you still trying to gain happiness yourself?
The synagogue official, a wealthy and respected man, was powerless in his desire to save his daugter from death. But He believed in God who delights in life so much so that He sent his only Son Jesus Christ. And so he fell at the feet of Jesus in total surrender, recognizing that he could do nothing but earnestly plead in his poverty and lowliness to the love and power of God. And it was in his helplessness, that Jesus set all those who did not believe out, and brought him and his wife, along with his chosen disciples, closer to Himself so that they could truly know and experience the love of the God who does not rejoice in death.
Likewise, a woman suffering with hemorrhages for twelve years and isolated from family and friends. She had spent all she had to be healed, but remained helpless and wanting. But she had faith in God who could save her. And it was that poverty and faith which saved her. And she too fell down in gratitude and honor to the One who saw her in her lowliness and yet delighted in her and desired her to be made whole again.
And so my brothers and sisters in Christ, God made all of creation purely out of His love and generosity of Himself; and He specially made us, human beings, in His nature so that we can fully know, appreciate, and share in the fullness of life and love of God. But in order to do so, we must surrender ourselves to the grand design and generosity of God. We must give of ourselves as generously and completely as God has given Himself to us. To the degree that we surrender ourselves, will be the degree we know the wholeness, the fullness of life and love God has for us. Can you surrender yourself so that you can share in the richness of God?