Seventh Sunday after Trinity AD 2025

Once, after a funeral, an old, bearded, gruff-voiced fisherman said to me: “Those funerals with a priest are really beautiful!” I then asked him what the beautiful part was that he liked so much. He replied: “Well, when you said, directly and without any twists: “The wages of sin is death!” Yeah, that’s right, I know it is!”

That made me smile – because at first glance it’s quite difficult to find anything beautiful in those words. But when you think about it a little – why not? Because the whole verse sounds like this: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

It’s hard to imagine anything more beautiful: in all the harsh, hopeless reality of our lives, we can know that God wants to give us – has given us – eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Eternal life is a gift; it is the gift of God’s grace. God has given it to us in Jesus Christ – and that means He has given it to us perfectly. Jesus has left nothing ungiven, we have no reason to doubt His love and mercy: when we are in Him, then we are saved, then we have eternal life, which no one can take away from us.

Saint Paul says: “Now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” This is God's will for us: that we should not die in our sins but live in righteousness and holiness.