“God did not make death.” This stark opening line from our first reading is answered at the end of that same passage: “By the envy of the devil, death entered the world.” God made us to live eternally with Him, through Him, and in Him. By enticing us to sin, the devil knew we would die because of our disconnection from God, the source of eternal life.
"Let us cross to the other side." Jesus speaks these words to His disciples as they prepare to cross the Sea of Galilee. We see in these words the Lord inviting us all on the journey of life, crossing over from what is old and sinful and becoming a new creation in Christ. This journey is called the Paschal Mystery.
In today's Gospel, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a man scattering seeds and then going about his day to let the seeds grow. Jesus commends the man for letting the seed grow naturally without the man trying to micromanage the growth of the seeds. We play our part by planting the seeds of God's grace in our lives and in the world around us, but then we're called to step back and let God's grace take effect.
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and grace! During the Easter Season, we celebrated First Communions, Confirmation, end of the school year activities and graduation, Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi, and so many other awesome events at the parish and in our diocese.