Our First Reading from the book of Wisdom today says, ‘Death was not God’s doing … It was the devil’s envy that brought death into the world.’  Obviously creatures have been dying in our universe since time immemorial, so we have to go a bit deeper than a purely literal interpretation of Genesis (and Wisdom).  The most satisfying commentary I have been able to find is this excellent one from Fr Barron:

God Did Not Make Death

Some helpful Ignatian reflections on physical versus spiritual death can be found here.

Finally, to flesh out the discussion on what Scripture means by death, the Dominicans of the Province of St Joseph have a very helpful article called Molecules and Mourning.

Download today’s readings for Australia here:

Pdf format: Year B 13th Sunday 2015

Word format: Year B 13th Sunday 2015