32nd Sunday in Ordinary time
… Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living… Luke 20:38
Intro: Every Eucharist celebrates the sacrificial death of Jesus, the Son of God. Now the Father calls all of us to share in the life of His Son, the risen Christ. As Jesus speaks to the Sadducees today about resurrection from the dead, the Church calls us to look at the final issues in our own lives - death and eternal life.
Because the way we live now will dictate our future life for all eternity.
Readings: In this story of persecution from Maccabees, the author explains how the hope of eternal life give a mother and her seven sons courage to undergo torture and death for their beliefs.
Paul is relying on the long-term comfort and hope which Jesus gives to see him and his readers through their present trials.
2 Maccabees7: 1-2, 9-14;
2 Thessalonians 2-16, 3: 5;
Luke 20: 27-38;
At 10.43 on 8th November 1987, a bomb exploded at the Cenotaph in Enniskillen, killing thirteen people. The mother of a twenty year old nurse who died wrote later, "God is good, and we shall meet again."
The Sadducees were despised by many people, but they wielded great power drawn from the upper class of society, and conservative in their outlook, most were either priests, or belonged to a high-priestly family. Unlike other Jews, they had no concept of life after death: it was only a newfangled belief. Their take was that God rewarded people in this life with prosperity or poverty, dependent upon their obedience to the Law of Moses, and salvation came through the restoration and preservation of the nation. In contrast, the Pharisees believed that one day the dead would achieve physical resurrection.
The Sadducees' trick question was to present Jesus with a dilemma about which party to support, and ridicule His belief in the resurrection of the dead. As always, His answer comes down to the flirty gritty: there will be no need either for heirs or for marriage, because all will remain alive for eternity; God is God of the living, not of the dead - there is no more death!
Like Jesus' questioners, we're all fascinated or terrified! by the thought of death and the after-life. St. Paul reminds us that no eye has seen, nor ear heard, of the
wonders and glory which God has prepared for those who love Him. God's promise reminds us that our eternal relationship with Him has already begun through our baptism, when He initiates a journey of love which is confirmed and deepened through the other Sacraments, particularly those of Confirmation, Reconciliation and the Eucharist, as well as Matrimony and Ordination, and completed in the final Sacrament of the Sick.
In other words, God is already with us, and He will never leave us, providing that we want Him to remain with us. Knowing that eternal life lies somewhere in the future
doesn't make it any easier to bear the pain and suffering of bereavement, as Jesus found at the death of His own close friend, Lazarus. But it does place it in the bigger
concept and plan of God's purpose, and helps us understand better.
We all face bereavement and feel the loss acutely, but the absolute comfort for us is that death has done its worst, but still not won. St. Paul claims that, without the resurrection, nothing makes sense - "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is useless, and your believing it is useless."
If there are times when we are saddened by the thought that one day we must die, perhaps we should echo the words of St. Paul: "Death, where is your victory .. death where is your sting" echoing the words of the psalm, and say, "I am sure that I shall see God's goodness in the land of the living." And after that, we shall surely be able to "hold firm and take heart."
Intercessions
It's with total confidence that we turn to the Lord, Who is able to bring life out of death:
1. For the Church, may She never fail to proclaim the Good News that there is eternal life beyond the grave - Lord, hear us
2. For those who have lost their faith, or find themselves unable to believe. Bring them closer to You, so that they may find real meaning in their lives - Lord, hear us
3. For ourselves. May we never be afraid to let go of others. Give us the courage and faith to see death, not as an end, but rather as a beginning of a new and wonderful life with You for all eternity - Lord, hear us.
4. For those who have been bereaved, or who are hurting or bitter. Strengthen them with a stronger faith and the sure hope of eternal life for those whom they have loved and lost - Lord, hear us.
5. Finally, let us pray for our own loved ones who have died recently: Moira Scott and John McManus; as well as those whose anniversaries we now call to mind: Sara McGuiness, Margaret Mary Devlin, James Tolland, Molly Tolland, Mary Tolland, together with those who have died in the wars of the last century. May they support us in the communion of saints - Lord, hear us.
Lord God, refresh with Your grace those for whom we have prayed, so that together with them we may praise and honour You both in this life and the next.