Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 156
Lectionary: 156
It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested
and tortured with whips and scourges by the king,
to force them to eat pork in violation of God's law.
One of the brothers, speaking for the others, said:
“What do you expect to achieve by questioning us?
We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.”
At the point of death he said:
“You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life,
but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever.
It is for his laws that we are dying.”
After him the third suffered their cruel sport.
He put out his tongue at once when told to do so,
and bravely held out his hands, as he spoke these noble words:
“It was from Heaven that I received these;
for the sake of his laws I disdain them;
from him I hope to receive them again.”
Even the king and his attendants marveled at the young man's courage,
because he regarded his sufferings as nothing.
After he had died,
they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same way.
When he was near death, he said,
“It is my choice to die at the hands of men
with the hope God gives of being raised up by him;
but for you, there will be no resurrection to life.”
and tortured with whips and scourges by the king,
to force them to eat pork in violation of God's law.
One of the brothers, speaking for the others, said:
“What do you expect to achieve by questioning us?
We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.”
At the point of death he said:
“You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life,
but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever.
It is for his laws that we are dying.”
After him the third suffered their cruel sport.
He put out his tongue at once when told to do so,
and bravely held out his hands, as he spoke these noble words:
“It was from Heaven that I received these;
for the sake of his laws I disdain them;
from him I hope to receive them again.”
Even the king and his attendants marveled at the young man's courage,
because he regarded his sufferings as nothing.
After he had died,
they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same way.
When he was near death, he said,
“It is my choice to die at the hands of men
with the hope God gives of being raised up by him;
but for you, there will be no resurrection to life.”
Responsorial
PsalmPS 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15
R. (15b) Lord,
when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Hear, O LORD, a just suit;
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
My steps have been steadfast in your paths,
my feet have not faltered.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my word.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Keep me as the apple of your eye,
hide me in the shadow of your wings.
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking I shall be content in your presence.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Hear, O LORD, a just suit;
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
My steps have been steadfast in your paths,
my feet have not faltered.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my word.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Keep me as the apple of your eye,
hide me in the shadow of your wings.
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking I shall be content in your presence.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Reading 22 THES 2:16-3:5
Brothers and sisters:
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,
who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement
and good hope through his grace,
encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed
and word.
Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us,
so that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be glorified,
as it did among you,
and that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked people,
for not all have faith.
But the Lord is faithful;
he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you,
you are doing and will continue to do.
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God
and to the endurance of Christ.
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,
who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement
and good hope through his grace,
encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed
and word.
Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us,
so that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be glorified,
as it did among you,
and that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked people,
for not all have faith.
But the Lord is faithful;
he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you,
you are doing and will continue to do.
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God
and to the endurance of Christ.
AlleluiaREV 1:5A, 6B
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Jesus Christ is the firstborn of the dead;
to him be glory and power, forever and ever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus Christ is the firstborn of the dead;
to him be glory and power, forever and ever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 20:27-38
Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,
came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying,
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us,
If someone's brother dies leaving a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife
and raise up descendants for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers;
the first married a woman but died childless.
Then the second and the third married her,
and likewise all the seven died childless.
Finally the woman also died.
Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?
For all seven had been married to her.”
Jesus said to them,
“The children of this age marry and remarry;
but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age
and to the resurrection of the dead
neither marry nor are given in marriage.
They can no longer die,
for they are like angels;
and they are the children of God
because they are the ones who will rise.
That the dead will rise
even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
when he called out ‘Lord,’
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
for to him all are alive.”
came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying,
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us,
If someone's brother dies leaving a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife
and raise up descendants for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers;
the first married a woman but died childless.
Then the second and the third married her,
and likewise all the seven died childless.
Finally the woman also died.
Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?
For all seven had been married to her.”
Jesus said to them,
“The children of this age marry and remarry;
but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age
and to the resurrection of the dead
neither marry nor are given in marriage.
They can no longer die,
for they are like angels;
and they are the children of God
because they are the ones who will rise.
That the dead will rise
even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
when he called out ‘Lord,’
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
for to him all are alive.”
Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,
came forward.
Jesus said to them,
“The children of this age marry and remarry;
but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age
and to the resurrection of the dead
neither marry nor are given in marriage.
They can no longer die,
for they are like angels;
and they are the children of God
because they are the ones who will rise.
That the dead will rise
even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
when he called out ‘Lord,’
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
for to him all are alive.”
came forward.
Jesus said to them,
“The children of this age marry and remarry;
but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age
and to the resurrection of the dead
neither marry nor are given in marriage.
They can no longer die,
for they are like angels;
and they are the children of God
because they are the ones who will rise.
That the dead will rise
even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
when he called out ‘Lord,’
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
for to him all are alive.”
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
Note: Where a Scripture text is underlined in the body of this discussion, it is recommended that the reader look up and read that passage.
1st Reading - Wisdom 18:6-9
The Book of Wisdom, also known as the Wisdom of Solomon, is listed in the Muratorian Fragment [the oldest (second century) listing of writings approved as Scripture for use in the Church of Rome] as a New Testament book. The book is not in the Hebrew canon and it is certain that Greek was the original language. It was certainly written after the completion of the Septuagint (middle of the 2nd century B.C.) and earlier than the New Testament. It is thought to date from the middle of the first century B.C. which would make it the last of the Old Testament books to be written. Believed to have been composed in Alexandria, Egypt, the author certainly isn’t Solomon and his identity remains unknown. All efforts to identify the author have been futile and the most that can be said is that he was a devout, Greek speaking Jew, acquainted to some extent with Greek philosophy and culture.
The book divides into two parts: The first part (1:1 through 11:1) appears to be a public address which sings the praises of Wisdom. The second part (11:2 through the end) is a midrash (a Jewish method of searching the Scriptures with a view to discovering the deeper meaning held to underlie the most minute details contained in the sacred text) in homily form about God’s fidelity to His people in the exodus. Today’s reading concerns the tenth plague and the exodus by which God punished the Egyptians and glorified Israel.
6 That night [of the Passover] was known beforehand to our fathers, that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage.
The patriarchs [Abram (Genesis 15:13-34), Jacob (Genesis 46:3-4), etc.] to whom God swore He would deliver their descendants
7 Your people awaited the salvation of the just and the destruction of their foes. 8 For when you punished our adversaries, in this you glorified us whom you had summoned.
Chosen – from all the peoples of the earth
9 For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice
The Passover
and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution,
The Passover meal created a family which celebrated with a religious unity.
That your holy ones should share alike the same good things and dangers, having previously sung the praises of the fathers.
2nd Reading - Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Today we begin a study of the Book of Hebrews. The last time we studied Hebrews in any depth was the 27th through 33rd Sundays in Ordinary Time in Cycle B. Today we take up our study essentially where we left off at that time.
The epistles are arranged in the Bible first by author, and then in order of descending length. Hebrews appears after the letters of Paul and before the Epistle of James. This is because although early tradition, in the main, attributed this text to Saint Paul, the western church did not accept Pauline authorship until the 4th century. The letter’s canonicity is not in doubt; it was included in the canon by the Council of Trent (April 8, 1546) among the other writings of Saint Paul, although the council chose not to state categorically that it was written by Paul. (Note how the letter is announced for the Mass reading “A reading from the letter to the Hebrews”). At any rate, who wrote it is a secondary question which has nothing to do with matters of faith.
The letter was probably written in Italy after A.D. 63 and before A.D. 70 (somewhere around A.D. 67 would be a good guess). It was obviously written to people whom the author knew to be steeped in the Old Testament, people who in all probability were converts from Judaism, and who may previously have even been priests or Levites. After becoming Christians, because of the difficult circumstances of the time, they had to abandon Jerusalem, the holy city, to seek refuge elsewhere; possibly Caesarea or Antioch. In their exile they look back with nostalgia on the splendor of the cult they played a part in prior to their conversion. They feel deceived and are tempted to give up their new faith, in which they are not yet well grounded. In addition to this they are discontented by the persecution they suffer because of their faith. Obviously, they are in need of help and in particular of clear doctrine to bolster their faith and enable them to cope with temptation to infidelity.
As we learned last year in our study of the letter to the Hebrews, the basic teaching centers on showing the superiority of the Christian religion over Judaism. The arrangement is developed in three stages:
1) Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, the King of the universe “reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature” and is superior to the angels.
2) Christ is also superior to Moses “as the builder of a house has more honor than the house.”
3) Jesus, the Son of God, is the greatest high priest who has passed through the heavens; His priesthood is of the order of Melchizadek, superior to the priesthood of Aaron, from which the Levitical priesthood derived.
Theological faith is closely linked to hope. Today, with this lesson in mind, we hear of the faith of Abraham.
11:1 Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. 2 Because of it the ancients were well attested.
“‘Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested.’ Wowee! What an expression he uses! He says, ‘evidence of things not seen!’ It is usual to speak of evidence in regard to things that are very plainly seen. Faith, he says, is the full assurance that is had with things that are seen. Neither is it possible to disbelieve in things that are seen, nor again is it possible for there to be faith unless one is as fully persuaded about things invisible as he is about things most clearly seen. Since objects of hope seem to be unsubstantial, faith favors them with substance; or rather, it does not so favor them, but it is the substance. For example, the resurrection has not come, nor does it exist substantially, but hope makes it subsist in our soul. This is what he means when he says ‘the realization of what is hoped for.’” [Saint John Chrysostom (ca. A.D. 403), Homilies on the Epistle to the Hebrews 21,2(4)]
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. 9 By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country,
Abraham’s faith is exemplified by his obedience to God’s command to migrate to Canaan (note it is not by faith alone, but by living out that faith that Abraham is declared righteous) and by his confidence that his descendants would possess the land, although he would only be a wanderer in it.
dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise;
The faith of Isaac and Jacob is mentioned in passing.
10 for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God.
Abraham’s stay in Canaan is an indication of his realization that his permanent dwelling was not to be anywhere on earth, but in the heavenly city (the heavenly Jerusalem).
11 By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age--and Sarah herself was sterile – for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy. 12 So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead,
An exaggerated description of Abraham’s advanced age (100) at the time of Isaac’s birth.
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore. 13 All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, 14 for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland.
“We all look toward the East when we pray; but few know that it is because we are looking for our own former country, Paradise, which God planted in Eden in the East (Genesis 2:8). On the first day of the week, we stand when we pray; but not all of us know why. The reason is that on the day of the resurrection, by standing at prayer, we remind ourselves of the grace we have received.” [Saint Basil the Great (A.D. 375), The Holy Spirit 27,66]
15 If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one.
All the patriarchs acknowledged that their homeland was in heaven.
Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 17 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises
Abraham’s faith is a classic case. His hopes for the fulfillment of God’s promise were bound up with the boy but Abraham, through faith, knew that God was instructing him to live out the divine plan.
was ready to offer his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” 19 He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol.
The author sees Isaac’s deliverance from death as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ.
Note: Where a Scripture text is underlined in the body of this discussion, it is recommended that the reader look up and read that passage.
1st Reading - Wisdom 18:6-9
The Book of Wisdom, also known as the Wisdom of Solomon, is listed in the Muratorian Fragment [the oldest (second century) listing of writings approved as Scripture for use in the Church of Rome] as a New Testament book. The book is not in the Hebrew canon and it is certain that Greek was the original language. It was certainly written after the completion of the Septuagint (middle of the 2nd century B.C.) and earlier than the New Testament. It is thought to date from the middle of the first century B.C. which would make it the last of the Old Testament books to be written. Believed to have been composed in Alexandria, Egypt, the author certainly isn’t Solomon and his identity remains unknown. All efforts to identify the author have been futile and the most that can be said is that he was a devout, Greek speaking Jew, acquainted to some extent with Greek philosophy and culture.
The book divides into two parts: The first part (1:1 through 11:1) appears to be a public address which sings the praises of Wisdom. The second part (11:2 through the end) is a midrash (a Jewish method of searching the Scriptures with a view to discovering the deeper meaning held to underlie the most minute details contained in the sacred text) in homily form about God’s fidelity to His people in the exodus. Today’s reading concerns the tenth plague and the exodus by which God punished the Egyptians and glorified Israel.
6 That night [of the Passover] was known beforehand to our fathers, that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage.
The patriarchs [Abram (Genesis 15:13-34), Jacob (Genesis 46:3-4), etc.] to whom God swore He would deliver their descendants
7 Your people awaited the salvation of the just and the destruction of their foes. 8 For when you punished our adversaries, in this you glorified us whom you had summoned.
Chosen – from all the peoples of the earth
9 For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice
The Passover
and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution,
The Passover meal created a family which celebrated with a religious unity.
That your holy ones should share alike the same good things and dangers, having previously sung the praises of the fathers.
2nd Reading - Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Today we begin a study of the Book of Hebrews. The last time we studied Hebrews in any depth was the 27th through 33rd Sundays in Ordinary Time in Cycle B. Today we take up our study essentially where we left off at that time.
The epistles are arranged in the Bible first by author, and then in order of descending length. Hebrews appears after the letters of Paul and before the Epistle of James. This is because although early tradition, in the main, attributed this text to Saint Paul, the western church did not accept Pauline authorship until the 4th century. The letter’s canonicity is not in doubt; it was included in the canon by the Council of Trent (April 8, 1546) among the other writings of Saint Paul, although the council chose not to state categorically that it was written by Paul. (Note how the letter is announced for the Mass reading “A reading from the letter to the Hebrews”). At any rate, who wrote it is a secondary question which has nothing to do with matters of faith.
The letter was probably written in Italy after A.D. 63 and before A.D. 70 (somewhere around A.D. 67 would be a good guess). It was obviously written to people whom the author knew to be steeped in the Old Testament, people who in all probability were converts from Judaism, and who may previously have even been priests or Levites. After becoming Christians, because of the difficult circumstances of the time, they had to abandon Jerusalem, the holy city, to seek refuge elsewhere; possibly Caesarea or Antioch. In their exile they look back with nostalgia on the splendor of the cult they played a part in prior to their conversion. They feel deceived and are tempted to give up their new faith, in which they are not yet well grounded. In addition to this they are discontented by the persecution they suffer because of their faith. Obviously, they are in need of help and in particular of clear doctrine to bolster their faith and enable them to cope with temptation to infidelity.
As we learned last year in our study of the letter to the Hebrews, the basic teaching centers on showing the superiority of the Christian religion over Judaism. The arrangement is developed in three stages:
1) Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, the King of the universe “reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature” and is superior to the angels.
2) Christ is also superior to Moses “as the builder of a house has more honor than the house.”
3) Jesus, the Son of God, is the greatest high priest who has passed through the heavens; His priesthood is of the order of Melchizadek, superior to the priesthood of Aaron, from which the Levitical priesthood derived.
Theological faith is closely linked to hope. Today, with this lesson in mind, we hear of the faith of Abraham.
11:1 Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. 2 Because of it the ancients were well attested.
“‘Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested.’ Wowee! What an expression he uses! He says, ‘evidence of things not seen!’ It is usual to speak of evidence in regard to things that are very plainly seen. Faith, he says, is the full assurance that is had with things that are seen. Neither is it possible to disbelieve in things that are seen, nor again is it possible for there to be faith unless one is as fully persuaded about things invisible as he is about things most clearly seen. Since objects of hope seem to be unsubstantial, faith favors them with substance; or rather, it does not so favor them, but it is the substance. For example, the resurrection has not come, nor does it exist substantially, but hope makes it subsist in our soul. This is what he means when he says ‘the realization of what is hoped for.’” [Saint John Chrysostom (ca. A.D. 403), Homilies on the Epistle to the Hebrews 21,2(4)]
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. 9 By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country,
Abraham’s faith is exemplified by his obedience to God’s command to migrate to Canaan (note it is not by faith alone, but by living out that faith that Abraham is declared righteous) and by his confidence that his descendants would possess the land, although he would only be a wanderer in it.
dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise;
The faith of Isaac and Jacob is mentioned in passing.
10 for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God.
Abraham’s stay in Canaan is an indication of his realization that his permanent dwelling was not to be anywhere on earth, but in the heavenly city (the heavenly Jerusalem).
11 By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age--and Sarah herself was sterile – for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy. 12 So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead,
An exaggerated description of Abraham’s advanced age (100) at the time of Isaac’s birth.
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore. 13 All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, 14 for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland.
“We all look toward the East when we pray; but few know that it is because we are looking for our own former country, Paradise, which God planted in Eden in the East (Genesis 2:8). On the first day of the week, we stand when we pray; but not all of us know why. The reason is that on the day of the resurrection, by standing at prayer, we remind ourselves of the grace we have received.” [Saint Basil the Great (A.D. 375), The Holy Spirit 27,66]
15 If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one.
All the patriarchs acknowledged that their homeland was in heaven.
Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 17 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises
Abraham’s faith is a classic case. His hopes for the fulfillment of God’s promise were bound up with the boy but Abraham, through faith, knew that God was instructing him to live out the divine plan.
was ready to offer his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” 19 He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol.
The author sees Isaac’s deliverance from death as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ.
Gospel - Luke 12:32-48
Jesus, having told the disciples of the external problems they will encounter such as that of the Pharisees, whose leven is hypocrisy, now tells them of internal problems caused by selfish Church officials.
[Jesus said to His disciples:] 32 “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.
To His struggling, opposed, and small group of disciples Jesus promises what is all-important: the kingdom; the powers of which are operative in their group.
33 Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. 34 For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
Don’t worry about material goods, share. Matthew 6:21 gives this in a negative form: “do not lay up treasures on earth.” Saint Luke’s account is more positive and demanding.
35 “Gird your loins and light your lamps 36 and be like servants
One who gives service to the Christian community
who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
This role reversal is significant and underscores God’s absolute gratuity. The servant who is faithful during the time of fulfillment before the parousia will share in the banquet in the end times.
37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. 38 And should he come in the second or third watch
The times for the changing of the watch were midnight and sunrise.
and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. 39 Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” 41 Then Peter said,
Peter is the spokesman for the group. Notice that Jesus ignores the question, implying that it was out of place.
“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” 42 And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute (the) food allowance at the proper time?
More seems to be involved than mere foodstuffs. Could this be a reference to communal meals such as the Eucharist?
43 Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk,
Echoes of verse 19 sound: The Church official has taken on some of the characteristics of the fool.
46 then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. 47 That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; 48 and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.
The punishments for unfaithful and negligent Church officials are stark. Community officials must be faithful and not create internal problems for the Church.
“Indeed, the more superior is a rational nature, so much the worse is its ruin; and the more unbelievable is its sin, so much more the damnable it is. The angel, therefore, fell irreparably, because more is demanded of him to whom more is given... Adam, the first man, was of such an excellent nature, because that nature was not yet weakened, that his sin was much greater by far than are the sins of other men. Therefore his punishment too, which was the immediate consequence of his sin, seemed much more severe. It had been in Adam’s power not to die; but now he was immediately bound by the necessity of dying, and he was immediately sent away from the place of such great happiness; and he was immediately barred from access to the tree of life. But when this was done, the human race was still in his loins. ... Thus all the sons of Adam were infected through him with the contagion of sin and were subjected to the state of death.” [Saint Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 428-430), The Unfinished Work Against Julian’s Second Reply, 6,22]
Meditation: "All live
to him"
Is your life earth-bound or heaven-bound? The Sadducees had one
big problem - they could not conceive of heaven beyond what they could see with
their naked eyes! Aren't we often like them? We don't recognize spiritual
realities because we try to make heaven into an earthly image. The Sadducees
came to Jesus with a test question to make the resurrection look ridiculous.
The Sadducees, unlike the Pharisees, did not believe in immortality, nor in
angels or evil spirits. Their religion was literally grounded in an earthly
image of heaven.
The Scriptures give witness - we will rise
again to immortal life
Jesus retorts by dealing with the fact of the resurrection. The Scriptures give proof of it. In Exodus 3:6, when God manifests his presence to Moses in the burning bush, the Lord tells him that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He shows that the patriarchs who died hundreds of years previously were still alive in God. Jesus defeats their arguments by showing that God is a living God of a living people. God was the friend of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when they lived. That friendship could not cease with death. As Psalm 73:23-24 states: "I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory."
Jesus retorts by dealing with the fact of the resurrection. The Scriptures give proof of it. In Exodus 3:6, when God manifests his presence to Moses in the burning bush, the Lord tells him that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He shows that the patriarchs who died hundreds of years previously were still alive in God. Jesus defeats their arguments by showing that God is a living God of a living people. God was the friend of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when they lived. That friendship could not cease with death. As Psalm 73:23-24 states: "I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory."
The ultimate proof of the resurrection is the Lord Jesus and his
victory over death when he rose from the tomb. Before Jesus raised Lazarus from
the dead, he exclaimed: "I am the resurrection and the life; he
who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and
believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John
11:25). Jesus asks us the same question. Do you believe in the resurrection and
in the promise of eternal life with God?
Jesus came to restore Paradise and everlasting
life for us
The Holy Spirit reveals to us the eternal truths of God's enduring love and the abundant life he desires to share with us for all eternity. Paul the Apostle, quoting from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 64:4; 65:17) states: "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him," God has revealed to us through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). The promise of Paradise - heavenly bliss and unending life with an all-loving God - is beyond human reckoning. We have only begun to taste the first-fruits! Do you live now in the joy and hope of the life of the age to come?
The Holy Spirit reveals to us the eternal truths of God's enduring love and the abundant life he desires to share with us for all eternity. Paul the Apostle, quoting from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 64:4; 65:17) states: "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him," God has revealed to us through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). The promise of Paradise - heavenly bliss and unending life with an all-loving God - is beyond human reckoning. We have only begun to taste the first-fruits! Do you live now in the joy and hope of the life of the age to come?
"May the Lord Jesus put his hands on our eyes also, for
then we too shall begin to look not at what is seen but at what is not seen.
May he open the eyes that are concerned not with the present but with what is
yet to come, may he unseal the heart's vision, that we may gaze on God in the
Spirit, through the same Lord, Jesus Christ, whose glory and power will endure
throughout the unending succession of ages." (Prayer of Origen, 185-254
AD)
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Jesus
cites Moses to affirm the resurrection, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444
AD)
"The Savior also demonstrated the great ignorance of the
Sadducees by bringing forward their own leader Moses, who was clearly acquainted
with the resurrection of the dead. He set God before us saying in the bush, 'I
am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob' (Exodus 3:6).
Of whom is he God, if, according to their argument, these have ceased to live?
He is the God of the living. They certainly will rise when his almighty right
hand brings them and all that are on the earth there. For people not to believe
that this will happen is worthy perhaps of the ignorance of the Sadducees, but
it is altogether unworthy of those who love Christ. We believe in him who says,
'I am the resurrection and the life' (John 11:25). He will raise the dead
suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, and at the last trumpet. It shall sound,
the dead in Christ shall rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1
Corinthians 15:52). For Christ our common Savior will transfer us into
incorruption, glory and to an incorruptible life." (excerpt from COMMENTARY
ON LUKE, HOMILY 136)
THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, LUKE 20:27-38 or 20:27, 34-38
(2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14; Psalm 17; 2 Thessalonians 2:16―3:5)
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, LUKE 20:27-38 or 20:27, 34-38
(2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14; Psalm 17; 2 Thessalonians 2:16―3:5)
KEY VERSE: "He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive" (v 38).
TO KNOW: The Sadducees were the priestly aristocracy within Judaism. They influenced the operation of the Temple and the Sanhedrin (the Jewish legislative body). Although they joined with the Pharisees in their opposition to Jesus, they differed in their beliefs. The Sadducees only accepted the Torah (the written law), and rejected the Pharisaic oral tradition such as the resurrection of the dead. A group of Sadducees tried to entrap Jesus by asking a question about the levirate marriage mandated by the Torah law (Dt 25:5-10). In this case, the brother of a deceased man was obligated to marry his brother's widow. While the Sadducees meant to ridicule the belief in the resurrection, Jesus silenced his adversaries by revealing their ignorance of the scriptures. He showed that even Moses believed in the resurrection when he spoke of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, their ancestors in faith, who were all eternally alive in God (Ex 3:6).
TO LOVE: Can I explain my belief in the resurrection to those who question me?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to live in such a way that is deserving of eternal life.
Sunday 6 November 2016
Sun 6th. 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.
2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14. Lord, when your glory
appears, my joy will be full—Ps 16(17):1, 5-6, 8, 15. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5.
Luke 20:27-38.
'Gifts of love'
The Sadducees could not find any evidence
of a resurrection from the dead in the books of the Mosaic Law. Jesus answers
their objections by turning the words of Moses against them. If God identified
himself with the long-dead patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, then life with
God must endure beyond death. But as always, Jesus looks beyond the original
question and provides us with a beautiful insight into the nature and purpose
of earthly marriage. The love between a man and a woman is a foretaste, a sign
of future communion with God. Those in heaven no longer require marriage,
because they already directly participate in his divine life. Let us pray today
for all married couples that they may come to an ever-deeper appreciation of
the gift of their vocation.
ST. JEAN-THÉOPHANE VÉNARD
On November 6, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Jean-Théophane
Vénard, a French missionary to Vietnam who was martyred for the faith.
Famous for having inspired St. Therese of Lisieux, who said of
St. Jean-Théophane that he was someone who had lived her own image of a martyr
and missionary, St. Jean was born in France, became a priest in the Society of
Foreign Missions, and was sent to Vietnam.
Due to the persecutions of the anti-Christian emperor Minh-Menh,
priests were forced to hide in the forest and live in caves. They were able to
sneak out at night and minster to the people. Eventually someone betrayed St.
Jean, and he was arrested. During his trail, he refused to renounce his faith
in order to save his life. He was condemned to death, and spent the last few
weeks of his life locked in a cage.
It was during his incarceration that he wrote many letters, some
to his family. His most famous line is from a letter to his father in which he
said, “We are all flowers planted on this earth, which God plucks in His own
good time: some a little sooner, some a little later . . . Father and son may
we meet in Paradise. I, poor little moth, go first. Adieu."
In reading these letters, St. Therese the Little Flower came to
understand and use the image of being a little flower, whom God nevertheless
cared for and cultivated, despite her minute size.
St. Jean-Théophane Vénard was beheaded Feb. 2, 1861.
His severed head was later recovered and is preserved as a relic
in Vietnam. The rest of his body rests in the crypt of the Missions Etrangères
in Paris.
LECTIO
DIVINA: 32ND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (C)
Lectio
Divina:
Sunday,
November 6, 2016
Jesus answers to the Sadducees
who ridicule faith in the Resurrection
Luke 20, 27-40
who ridicule faith in the Resurrection
Luke 20, 27-40
Initial prayer
Oh infinite Mystery of Life,
We are nothing,
And still we can praise you
With the voice itself of your Word
Who became the voice of our whole humanity.
Oh, my Trinity, I am nothing in You,
But You are all in me
And then my nothingness is Life… it is eternal life.
Oh infinite Mystery of Life,
We are nothing,
And still we can praise you
With the voice itself of your Word
Who became the voice of our whole humanity.
Oh, my Trinity, I am nothing in You,
But You are all in me
And then my nothingness is Life… it is eternal life.
Maria Evangelista of the Holy Trinity, O.Carm.
1. Lectio
27 Some
Sadducees - those who argue that there is no resurrection - approached him and
they put this question to him, 28 'Master, Moses prescribed for us, if a man's
married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up
children for his brother. 29 Well then, there were seven brothers; the first,
having married a wife, died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third
married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children.
32 Finally the woman herself died. 33 Now, at the resurrection, whose wife will
she be, since she had been married to all seven?' 34 Jesus replied, 'The
children of this world take wives and husbands, 35 but those who are judged
worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do
not marry 36 because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the
angels, and being children of the resurrection they are children of God. 37 And
Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush
where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of
Jacob. 38 Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him
everyone is alive.' 39 Some scribes then spoke up. They said, 'Well put,
Master.' 40 They did not dare to ask him any more questions.
2. Meditatio
a) Key for the Reading:
• Context
We can say that the passage proposed to us for our reflection
forms a central part of the text which goes from Luke 20:20 to 22:4 which deals
with the discussions with the chief priests of the people. Already in the
beginning of chapter 20, Luke presents us with some conflicts which arose
between Jesus, the priests and the scribes (vv. 1-19). Here Jesus finds himself
before some conflict with the Philosophical School of the Sadducees, who have
taken their name from Zadok, the priest of David (2 Sam 8, 17). They accepted
as revelation only the writings of Moses (v. 28) denying the gradual
development of Biblical revelation. In this sense one can understand better the
expression: “Moses prescribed for us” repeated by the Sadducees in this
malicious debate which they use as a trap to get Jesus and “to catch him in a
fault” (see: 20, 2; 20, 20). This Philosophical School disappeared with the
destruction of the Temple.
• The Law of the levirate
The Sadducees precisely deny the resurrection from the dead
because, according to them, this object of faith did not form part of the
revelation handed down to them from Moses. The same thing can be said
concerning the faith in the existence of the angels. In Israel, faith in the
resurrection of the dead appears in the book of Daniel written in the year 605
– 530 B.C. (Dan 12, 2-3). We also find it in 2 M 7: 9, 11, 14, 23. In order to
ridicule the faith in the resurrection of the dead, the Sadducees quote the
legal prescription of Moses on the levirate (Dt 25, 5), that is concerning the
ancient use of the Semitic peoples (including the Hebrews), according to which,
the brother or a close relative of a married man who died without sons, had to
marry the widow, in order: a) to assure to the deceased descendants (the sons
would have been legally considered sons of the deceased man), and b) a husband
to the woman, because women depended on the man for their livelihood. Cases of
this type are recalled in the Old Testament in the Book of Genesis and in that
of Ruth.
In the Book of Genesis (38: 6-26) it is said how “Judah took a
wife, whose name was Tamar, for his first born son Er. But, Er, the first born
of Judah, offended the Lord and the Lord killed him. Then Judah tells Onan:
Take your brother’s wife, and do your duty as her brother-in-law to maintain
your brother’s line” (Gen, 38: 6-8). But Onan also was punished by God and he
died (Gen 38, 10), because Onan knowing that the line would not count as his,
spilt his seed on the ground every time he slept with his brother’s wife, to
avoid providing offspring for his brother” (Gen 38, 9. Judah seeing this sent
Tamar to her father’s house, so as not to give her his third son, Shelah as
husband (Gen 38, 10-11). Tamar then, disguising herself as a prostitute or a
harlot, slept with Judah himself and conceived twins. Judah on discovering the
truth, gave reason to Tamar recognizing “She was right and I was wrong” (Gen
38, 26).
In the book of Ruth the same story is told about Ruth herself,
Ruth the Moabite, who remained a widow after having married one of the sons of
Elimelech. Together with her mother-in-law Naomi, was obliged to beg for
survival and to gather in the fields the ears of corn which fell from the
sheaves behind the reapers, up to the time when she married Boaz, a relative of
her deceased husband.
The case proposed to Jesus by the Sadducees reminds us the story
of Tobias the son of Tobit who married Sarah the daughter of Raguel, the widow
of seven husbands, all killed by Asmodeus, the demon of lust, at the moment
that they slept together. Tobias has the right to marry her because she
belonged to his tribe. (Tobit 7, 9).
Jesus makes the Sadducees notice that the purpose of marriage is
procreation, and therefore it is necessary for the future of the human species,
since none of the “sons of this world” (v. 34) is eternal. But “those who are
judged worthy of a place in the other world” (v. 35) neither take husband nor
wife in so far as they can no longer die” (v. 35-36), they live in God: “they
are the same as the angels and, being children of the resurrection, are sons of
God” (v. 36). Both in the Old and in the New Testament, the angels are called
sons of God (see for example, Gen 6: 2; Ps 29, 1; Lk 10, 6; 16, 8). These words
of Jesus remind us also of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, where it is written
that Jesus is the Son because of His Resurrection, He is the First risen from
the dead and, par excellence, is Son of the Resurrection (Rm 1, 4). Here we can
also quote the texts of St. Paul on the Resurrection of the dead as an event of
salvation of a spiritual nature (1 Co 15, 35-50).
• I am: The God of the Living
Jesus goes on to confirm the reality of the resurrection by
quoting another passage taken from Exodus, this time from the account of the
revelation of God to Moses in the burning bush. The Sadducees make evident
their point of view by quoting Moses: Jesus, at the same time, refutes their
argument by quoting Moses also: “That the dead resurrect has also been indicated
by Moses about the bush, when he calls the Lord: the God of Abraham, God of
Isaac and God of Jacob” (v. 37). In Exodus we find that the Lord reveals
himself to Moses with these words: “I am the God of your father, the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex 3, 6). The Lord then
continues to reveal to Moses the divine Name: “I am” (Ex 3, 14). The Hebrew
word ehjej, from the root Hei-Yod-Hei, used for the divine name in
Exodus 3, 14, means I am he who is; I am the existing One. The root
may also mean life, existence. And this is why Jesus can conclude: “God is
not the God of the dead, but of the living” (v. 38). In the same verse Jesus
specifies that “all live for Him [God]”. This can also mean “all live in Him”.
Reflecting on Jesus’ death, in the letter to the Romans, Paul writes: “For by
dying, he is dead to sin once and for all, and now the life that he lives
is life with God. In the same way, you must see yourselves as being
dead to sin but alive for God in Jesus Christ” (Rm 6, 10).
We can say that Jesus, once more, makes the Sadducees see that
God’s fidelity, whether for His People, or for the individual, is not based
either on the existence or not of a political kingdom (in the case of God’s
fidelity to his People), neither on having or not prosperity and descendants in
this life. The hope of the true believer does not resides in the things of this
world, but in the Living God. This is why the disciples of Jesus are called to
live as children of the resurrection, that is, sons of life in God, as their
Master and Lord, “having been regenerated not from any perishable seed but from
imperishable seed, that is, of the living and enduring Word of God” (1 P 1,23).
b) Questions to help in the reflection
* What has struck you most in this Gospel? Some word? Which
particular attitude?
* Try to reread the Gospel text in the context of the other Biblical texts quoted in the key to the reading. You also find others.
* How do you interpret the conflict which arose between the chief priests of the People an d the Sadducees with Jesus?
* Stop and think on how Jesus confronted the conflict . What do you learn from his behaviour?
* Which do you think is the central point in the discussion?
* What does the resurrection from the dead mean for you?
* Do you feel as a son or daughter of the resurrection?
* What does it mean for you to live the resurrection beginning now at the present moment?
* Try to reread the Gospel text in the context of the other Biblical texts quoted in the key to the reading. You also find others.
* How do you interpret the conflict which arose between the chief priests of the People an d the Sadducees with Jesus?
* Stop and think on how Jesus confronted the conflict . What do you learn from his behaviour?
* Which do you think is the central point in the discussion?
* What does the resurrection from the dead mean for you?
* Do you feel as a son or daughter of the resurrection?
* What does it mean for you to live the resurrection beginning now at the present moment?
3. Oratio
From Psalm 17
We will be filled, Lord, by contemplating your Face
Listen, Yahweh, to an upright cause,
pay attention to my cry,
lend an ear to my prayer,
my lips free from deceit.
pay attention to my cry,
lend an ear to my prayer,
my lips free from deceit.
My steps never stray from the paths you lay down,
from your tracks; so my feet never stumble.
I call upon you, God, for you answer me;
turn your ear to me, hear what I say.
from your tracks; so my feet never stumble.
I call upon you, God, for you answer me;
turn your ear to me, hear what I say.
Shelter me in the shadow of your wings
But I in my uprightness will see your face,
and when I awake I shall be filled with the vision of you.
But I in my uprightness will see your face,
and when I awake I shall be filled with the vision of you.
4. Contemplatio
From the mystical diary of
Sister Maria Evangelista of the Most Holy Trinity, O.Carm.
Sister Maria Evangelista of the Most Holy Trinity, O.Carm.
This earthly life is also filled with love, with gifts of
“truth”, hidden gifts and at the same time, revealed by the sign… I feel an
immense gratitude for every human value. To live in communion with creation, in
friendship with the brothers, in openness toward the work of God and the work
of man, in a continuous experience of the gifts of life, even if in the midst
of suffering, even is simply only human, it is a continuous grace, a continuous
gift.
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