Little girl, I say to you, arise.
Every gospel reading, beloved, is most helpful both for our present
life and for the attainment of the life to come. Today’s reading,
however, sums up the whole of our hope, banishing all grounds
for despair.
Let us consider the synagogue official who took Christ to his
daughter and in so doing gave the woman with a hemorrhage an
opportunity to approach him. Here is the beginning of today’s
reading: An official came to Jesus and did homage, saying: “Lord,
my little daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand
on her and she will live.”
Christ could foresee the future and he knew this woman would
approach him. Through her the Jewish official was to learn that
there is no need to move God to another place, take him on a
journey, or attract him by a physical presence. One must only
believe that he is present in the whole of his being always and
everywhere, and that he can do all things effortlessly by a simple
command; that far from depriving us of strength, he gives it;
that he puts death to flight by a word of command rather than
by physical touch, and gives life by his mere bidding, without
need of any art.
“My daughter has just died. Do come.” What he means is that the
warmth of life still remains, there are still indications that
her soul has not departed, her spirit is still in this world,
the head of the house still has a daughter, the underworld is
still unaware of her death. Come quickly and hold back the departing
soul!
In his ignorance the man assumed that Christ would not be able
to raise his daughter unless he actually laid his hand on her.
So when Christ reached the house and saw the mourners lamenting
as though the girl were dead, he declared that she was not dead
but sleeping, in order to move their unbelieving minds to faith
and convince them that one can rise from death more easily than
from sleep.
“The girl is not dead,” he told them, “but
asleep.”
And
indeed, for God death is nothing but sleep. He can restore life-giving
warmth to limbs grown cold in death sooner than we can impart
vigor to bodies sunk in slumber.
Listen to the Apostle: “In
an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead will rise.” He used an image because it was impossible to express the speed
of the
resurrection in words.
How could he explain its swiftness verbally
when divine power outstrips the very notion of swiftness? How
could time enter the picture when an eternal gift is given outside
of time?
Time implies duration, but eternity excludes time.
(Sermon 34: PL 52, 296-99)
Peter
Chrysologus (c. 400-50), who was born at Imoly in Italy,
became a bishop of Ravenna. He was highly esteemed by the
Empress Galla Placidia, in whose presence he preached his
first sermon as bishop. He was above all a pastor, and many
of his sermons have been preserved. |