Introduction: As we near the end of the Church’s liturgical year, the readings become more eschatological — having to do with the end times. The main theme of today’s readings is the reality of life after death and of the relationship between our lives on earth and the life of glory or punishment that will follow. The readings invite us to consider the true meaning of the Resurrection in our lives.
Scripture lessons: The first reading describes a Jewish family, consisting of a mother and her seven sons, who refuse a Syrian command to eat pork, forbidden as “unclean” by Jewish Law. Because of their Faith in, and Nike Flex 2016 Rn Grade School Girls’ Running Shoes obedience to, God, they endure suffering and accept martyrdom. During their Balenciaga Speed Trainer Fit torture, three of the brothers speak, and each of them finds strength in the belief that he will eventually be raised and rewarded by God. The second reading encourages the Thessalonians, who were waiting for the Parousia or the second coming of Christ, to trust in the fidelity of God who would strengthen their hearts in every good work and word. The same theme of the resurrection of the dead is the basis of the confrontation described in today’s Gospel passage. In this confrontation, Jesus ingeniously escapes from a doctrinal trap set for him and explains the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, supported by the Pharisees and denied by the Sadducees. Jesus speaks of God as the God of the living; he also explains that Heavenly life with God in glory is totally different from earthly life, and that there is no marriage in heaven in the earthly sense.
Life messages: 1) We need to live as people of the Resurrection. This means that we are not to lie buried in the tomb of our sins and evil habits. Instead, we are to live joyful and peaceful lives, constantly experiencing the real Presence of the Risen Lord. In addition, the hope of our resurrection and eternal life with God gives us lasting peace and celestial joy amid the boredom and tensions of our day-to-day lives. The awareness of the all-pervading Presence of the Holy Spirit will help us to control our thoughts, desires, words and behaviors. The salutary thought of our own resurrection and eternal glory, or eternal punishment, should also inspire us to honor our bodies, keeping them holy, pure and free from evil habits, and to respect those with whom we come in contact, rendering them loving and humble service.
2) We need to offer living worship to a living God. If our God is the God of the living, our worship of this living God also has to be alive. Our participation in prayers and songs during the Holy Mass should be active and our behavior in Church reverent, as we offer our lives and all our activities to our living God on the altar with repentant and grateful hearts.
OT 32 [C] (Nov 6) II Mc 7:1-2, 9-14; II Thes 2:16–3:5; Lk 20: 27-38
Anecdotes: #1: Sign of the cross by Brezhnev’s wife: As Vice-President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral (November 15, 1982) of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev who had been the president of the USSR for 18 years. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev’s widow, Mrs. Viktoria Brezhnev. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev’s wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: she reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband’s chest. There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband. [] Today’s Gospel is Jesus’ teaching on the resurrection of the dead. ()
# 2: Resurrection of the dead: The film Amadeus ends showing the funeral of the great musician Mozart. He died at the age of 35. A genius, he never re-copied his compositions. He never had to make corrections, so the first draft was also the final copy. A genius, he started playing several instruments at the age of four, wrote several symphonies by the age of eight and created at least 528 musical compositions before he died at age 35. He was a genius, whom one authority calls “one of the brightest stars in the musical firmament.” What a waste, that he should have died so young! It makes you wonder: is this life all there is? Imagine a beloved spouse, a darling parent or grandparent, a close friend, lying cold in the coffin. Is this life all there is? We try to comfort ourselves with the doctrine of the resurrection. We say: the genius of people like Mozart is not going to be wasted. The love of dear ones – the squeeze of their hands and the music in their voices – that love will be enjoyed in even greater intensity. A Sadducee in Jesus’ time might say, “I don’t believe it; the doctrine is absurd.” That was the point the Sadducees wanted to make by challenging Jesus with an absurd story of a woman who married seven husbands, in today’s Gospel.
# 3: The epitaph of Benjamin Franklin: In one of his lighter moments, Benjamin Franklin (one of the most important of the : , , , , , , , and ), penned his own epitaph. It seems he must have been influenced by Paul’s teaching on the resurrection of the body. Here’s what he wrote: The Body of B. Franklin, the former printer lies here, food for worms, like the cover of an old book: its contents torn out, and stripped of its lettering and gilding. But the work shall not be wholly lost: for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new