The hottest part of the summer seems to be upon us in the North East. The intensity of the sun and the humidity that accompanies the summer months is here once again.
It does not take too long to prepare for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time by perusing the readings for this week even in the heat and humidity. Saint Paul offer us some pointed words on what Christ has done for us. He instructs us that in baptism we are "buried with him" and also "raised with him."
Now we who were once "dead in trespasses," God made us "alive together with him when he forgave us all our trespasses."
The record of sin that has been erased, nailed to the cross of Jesus. We are not dealing with a philosophy here, nor are we relying on memes or emails or instant messages from multiple sources to guide and direct our lives. Rather, we rely on the One who triumphed over all in his sacrificial death and resurrection on our behalf.
To put it another way, Jesus is not only the light by which we can view the world, he is the source of light itself, "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." Paul points us to an even greater light and an even greater source of new life.
