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.
AlleluiaRV 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."
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)
32nd 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 - 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14
The title of 1 and 2 Maccabees is taken from the surname of Judas Maccabeus (1
Maccabees 2:4), the hero of the war of Jewish independence against Syria. The two books
have separate authors. The first book is thought to have originally been written in Hebrew,
although only a Greek translation survives, by a Palestinian Jew around 100 B.C. The
second book is believed to have been composed in Greek by an Alexandrian Pharisee about
124 B.C. So, in fact, the second book was written before the first.
Both books encompass a similar period in Jewish history, the first book covering
175 to 135 B.C., and the second covering 175 to 161 B.C.
After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C., Egypt and Syria contended over
the possession of Palestine. The kings of Egypt, known as the Ptolemies, retained the
overlordship over the Jews for more than 100 years. They treated the Jews mildly and
permitted them to live undisturbed according to the laws of Moses. Still, Greek habits and
ideas were widely adopted in Palestine, Greek culture (Hellenism) casting its spell
especially over the higher classes. In 198 B.C., Antiochus II, Seleucid king of Syria,
conquered Palestine and incorporated it with his own kingdom. The conqueror himself did
not interfere with the religious life of the Jews, but his son and successor, Antiochus IV
(Epiphanes), who ruled from 175 to 164 B.C. tried to force paganism upon all his subjects.
In 170 he plundered the Temple and slew many of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Two years
later he threw a garrison into the citadel and ordered all Jews under pain of death to adopt
pagan rites and customs. A statue of Zeus was placed above the altar of burnt offerings, and
an edict was issued ordaining the erection of heathen altars in every town of Palestine.
Many apostatized; but many also preferred to suffer torture and death rather than
transgress the law of God.
The second book of Maccabees is important from a doctrinal point of view: it aims at
bringing out strongly the religious lessons of the time, the book being written more as a
sermon than a history. It includes such fundamental texts as that which states that God
created all things out of nothing and those which make it clear that the sacrifice of martyrs
is a voluntary form of atonement which placates God’s anger. Other texts lay stress on the
intercession of the saints, and the value of prayers for the dead.
To better understand our 1st reading we will read all of 2 Maccabees, Chapter 7.
7:1 It [ ] happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured
with whips and scourges by the king,
Since the story is contrived for maximum impact, the chief persecutor himself is addressed.
to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law. 2 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.”
3 At that the king, in a fury, gave orders to have pans and caldrons heated. 4 While
they were being quickly heated, he commanded his executioners to cut out the
tongue of the one who had spoken for the others, to scalp him and cut off his hands
and feet, while the rest of his brothers and his mother looked on. 5 When he was
completely maimed but still breathing, the king ordered them to carry him to the fire
and fry him. As a cloud of smoke spread from the pan, the brothers and their mother
encouraged one another to die bravely, saying such words as these: 6 “The Lord God
is looking on, and he truly has compassion on us, as Moses declared in his canticle,
when he protested openly with the words, ‘And he will have pity on his servants.’”
7 When the first brother had died in this manner, they brought the second to be made
sport of. After tearing off the skin and hair of his head, they asked him, “Will you eat
the pork rather than have your body tortured limb by limb?” 8 Answering in the
language of his forefathers, he said, “Never!” So he too in turn suffered the same
tortures as the first. 9 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.”
10 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, 11 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.” 12 Even the king and his attendants marveled at
the young man’s courage, because he regarded his sufferings as
nothing.
13 After he had died, they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same
way. 14 When he was near death, he said, “It is my choice to die at the hands of men
with the God-given hope of being restored to life by him; but for you, there will be no
resurrection to life.”
15 They next brought forward the fifth brother and maltreated him. Looking at the
king, 16 he said: “Since you have power among men, mortal though you are, do what
you please. But do not think that our nation is forsaken by God. 17 Only wait, and you
will see how his great power will torment you and your descendants.”
18 After him they brought the sixth brother. When he was about to die, he said: “Have
no vain illusions. We suffer these things on our own account, because we have sinned
against our God; that is why such astonishing things have happened to us. 19 Do not
think, then, that you will go unpunished for having dared to fight against God.”
20 Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother, who saw
her seven sons perish in a single day, yet bore it courageously because of her hope in
the Lord. 21 Filled with a noble spirit that stirred her womanly heart with manly
courage, she exhorted each of them in the language of their forefathers with these
words: 22 “I do not know how you came into existence in my womb; it was not I who
gave you the breath of life, nor was it I who set in order the elements of which each of
you is composed. 23 Therefore, since it is the Creator of the universe who shapes each
man’s beginning, as he brings about the origin of everything, he, in his mercy, will
give you back both breath and life, because you now disregard yourselves for the
sake of his law.”
24 Antiochus, suspecting insult in her words, thought he was being ridiculed. As the
youngest brother was still alive, the king appealed to him, not with mere words, but
with promises on oath, to make him rich and happy if he would abandon his
ancestral customs: he would make him his Friend and entrust him with high office. 25
When the youth paid no attention to him at all, the king appealed to the mother,
urging her to advise her boy to save his life. 26 After he had urged her for a long time,
she went through the motions of persuading her son. 27 In derision of the cruel
tyrant, she leaned over close to her son and said in their native language: “Son, have
pity on me, who carried you in my womb for nine months, nursed you for three
years, brought you up, educated and supported you to your present age. 28 I beg you,
child, to look at the heavens and the earth and see all that is in them; then you will
know that God did not make them out of existing things; and in the same way the
human race came into existence. 29 Do not be afraid of this executioner, but be
worthy of your brothers and accept death, so that in the time of mercy I may receive
you again with them.”
30 She had scarcely finished speaking when the youth said: “What are you waiting
for? I will not obey the king’s command. I obey the command of the law given to our
forefathers through Moses. 31 But you, who have contrived every kind of affliction for
the Hebrews, will not escape the hands of God. 32 We, indeed, are suffering because of
our sins. 33 Though our living Lord treats us harshly for a little while to correct us
with chastisements, he will again be reconciled with his servants. 34 But you, wretch,
vilest of all men! do not, in your insolence, concern yourself with unfounded hopes,
as you raise your hand against the children of Heaven. 35 You have not yet escaped
the judgment of the almighty and all-seeing God. 36 My brothers, after enduring brief
pain, have drunk of never-failing life, under God’s covenant, but you, by the judgment
of God, shall receive just punishments for your arrogance. 37 Like my brothers, I offer
up my body and my life for our ancestral laws, imploring God to show mercy soon to
our nation, and by afflictions and blows to make you confess that he alone is God. 38
Through me and my brothers, may there be an end to the wrath of the Almighty that
has justly fallen on our whole nation.”
39 At that, the king became enraged and treated him even worse than the others,
since he bitterly resented the boy’s contempt. 40 Thus he too died undefiled, putting
all his trust in the Lord.
41 The mother was last to die, after her sons.
42 Enough has been said about the sacrificial meals and the excessive cruelties.
There is a progression in the words the brothers address to the king before dying:
1) The just die rather than sin.
2) God will raise them up.
3) They will rise with bodies fully restored.
4) For the wicked there will be no resurrection to life.
5) Instead of resurrection, God will punish them.
6) The just suffer because of their sins, as will the wicked.
7) The death of the saints has imperatory (obtain by entreaty or petition) and even
expiatory (make atonement) value.
Thus, the sacred author states the theology of martyrdom and the resurrection of the just.
2nd Reading - 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5
Last week we began our study of 2 Thessalonians. Recall that this letter was written
to clear up some misunderstandings caused by the first letter. The misunderstandings
concerned the second coming and when it would occur. Some had even given up working in
anticipation of the event. Paul wrote to assure them that no one knew when it would occur
and that they were to keep on working until the end. Today we hear Paul’s prayer for
strengthening.
16 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,
Saint Paul stresses the gratuity of the gift. The gift is freely given to those who will accept it.
17 encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word. 3:1
Finally, brothers, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be
glorified, as it did among you,
And how did the word of the Lord speed forward and was glorified? The verse before our
reading today says for them to “hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an
oral statement or by a letter of ours.” The oral traditions were not new revelation, but
interpretations of the written word.
“From this it is clear that they did not hand down everything by letter, but there was much
also that was not written. Like that which was written, the unwritten too is worthy of
belief. So let us regard the tradition of the Church also as worthy of belief. Is it a tradition?
Seek no further.” [Saint John Chrysostom (between A.D. 398-404), Homilies on the Second
Epistle to the Thessalonians 4,2]
2 and that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked people, for not all have
faith.
Paul is requesting prayers for the continuous progress of the gospel and for those who
deliver it. We must always pray for our pope, bishops, priests, catechists and evangelists.
3 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
Satan
4 We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you, you (both) are doing
and will continue to do. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to
the endurance of Christ.
Prayer for an increase in the gift of God’s love and in the patient endurance of which Christ
is both the example and the donor (see Romans 15:5).
Gospel - Luke 20:27-38
Jesus is now in Jerusalem for His passion. He has made His triumphal entry which
we celebrate on Passion (Palm) Sunday, he has upset the establishment by cleansing the
temple. The Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees are all now interested in getting rid of Him.
27 Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and
put this question to him, 28 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.’
The question refers to the so-called levirate marriage (see Deuteronomy 25:5-10).
29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. 30
Then the second 31 and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died
childless. 32 Finally the woman also died. 33 Now at the resurrection whose wife will
that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” 34 Jesus said to them, “The
children of this age marry and remarry; 35 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.
Such Christians will share the heavenly blessedness of freedom from “the cares and
pleasures of life.”
36 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.
Jesus’ answer attacks the basic premise of the Sadducees: The life of the age to come is a
continuation of this life and therefore needs human propagation lest it die out.
37 That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
Exodus 3:2-6
when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; 38
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
Since God is the God of the living, God must have sustained the dead Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in life by resurrecting them.
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 - 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14
The title of 1 and 2 Maccabees is taken from the surname of Judas Maccabeus (1
Maccabees 2:4), the hero of the war of Jewish independence against Syria. The two books
have separate authors. The first book is thought to have originally been written in Hebrew,
although only a Greek translation survives, by a Palestinian Jew around 100 B.C. The
second book is believed to have been composed in Greek by an Alexandrian Pharisee about
124 B.C. So, in fact, the second book was written before the first.
Both books encompass a similar period in Jewish history, the first book covering
175 to 135 B.C., and the second covering 175 to 161 B.C.
After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C., Egypt and Syria contended over
the possession of Palestine. The kings of Egypt, known as the Ptolemies, retained the
overlordship over the Jews for more than 100 years. They treated the Jews mildly and
permitted them to live undisturbed according to the laws of Moses. Still, Greek habits and
ideas were widely adopted in Palestine, Greek culture (Hellenism) casting its spell
especially over the higher classes. In 198 B.C., Antiochus II, Seleucid king of Syria,
conquered Palestine and incorporated it with his own kingdom. The conqueror himself did
not interfere with the religious life of the Jews, but his son and successor, Antiochus IV
(Epiphanes), who ruled from 175 to 164 B.C. tried to force paganism upon all his subjects.
In 170 he plundered the Temple and slew many of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Two years
later he threw a garrison into the citadel and ordered all Jews under pain of death to adopt
pagan rites and customs. A statue of Zeus was placed above the altar of burnt offerings, and
an edict was issued ordaining the erection of heathen altars in every town of Palestine.
Many apostatized; but many also preferred to suffer torture and death rather than
transgress the law of God.
The second book of Maccabees is important from a doctrinal point of view: it aims at
bringing out strongly the religious lessons of the time, the book being written more as a
sermon than a history. It includes such fundamental texts as that which states that God
created all things out of nothing and those which make it clear that the sacrifice of martyrs
is a voluntary form of atonement which placates God’s anger. Other texts lay stress on the
intercession of the saints, and the value of prayers for the dead.
To better understand our 1st reading we will read all of 2 Maccabees, Chapter 7.
7:1 It [ ] happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured
with whips and scourges by the king,
Since the story is contrived for maximum impact, the chief persecutor himself is addressed.
to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law. 2 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.”
3 At that the king, in a fury, gave orders to have pans and caldrons heated. 4 While
they were being quickly heated, he commanded his executioners to cut out the
tongue of the one who had spoken for the others, to scalp him and cut off his hands
and feet, while the rest of his brothers and his mother looked on. 5 When he was
completely maimed but still breathing, the king ordered them to carry him to the fire
and fry him. As a cloud of smoke spread from the pan, the brothers and their mother
encouraged one another to die bravely, saying such words as these: 6 “The Lord God
is looking on, and he truly has compassion on us, as Moses declared in his canticle,
when he protested openly with the words, ‘And he will have pity on his servants.’”
7 When the first brother had died in this manner, they brought the second to be made
sport of. After tearing off the skin and hair of his head, they asked him, “Will you eat
the pork rather than have your body tortured limb by limb?” 8 Answering in the
language of his forefathers, he said, “Never!” So he too in turn suffered the same
tortures as the first. 9 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.”
10 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, 11 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.” 12 Even the king and his attendants marveled at
the young man’s courage, because he regarded his sufferings as
nothing.
13 After he had died, they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same
way. 14 When he was near death, he said, “It is my choice to die at the hands of men
with the God-given hope of being restored to life by him; but for you, there will be no
resurrection to life.”
15 They next brought forward the fifth brother and maltreated him. Looking at the
king, 16 he said: “Since you have power among men, mortal though you are, do what
you please. But do not think that our nation is forsaken by God. 17 Only wait, and you
will see how his great power will torment you and your descendants.”
18 After him they brought the sixth brother. When he was about to die, he said: “Have
no vain illusions. We suffer these things on our own account, because we have sinned
against our God; that is why such astonishing things have happened to us. 19 Do not
think, then, that you will go unpunished for having dared to fight against God.”
20 Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother, who saw
her seven sons perish in a single day, yet bore it courageously because of her hope in
the Lord. 21 Filled with a noble spirit that stirred her womanly heart with manly
courage, she exhorted each of them in the language of their forefathers with these
words: 22 “I do not know how you came into existence in my womb; it was not I who
gave you the breath of life, nor was it I who set in order the elements of which each of
you is composed. 23 Therefore, since it is the Creator of the universe who shapes each
man’s beginning, as he brings about the origin of everything, he, in his mercy, will
give you back both breath and life, because you now disregard yourselves for the
sake of his law.”
24 Antiochus, suspecting insult in her words, thought he was being ridiculed. As the
youngest brother was still alive, the king appealed to him, not with mere words, but
with promises on oath, to make him rich and happy if he would abandon his
ancestral customs: he would make him his Friend and entrust him with high office. 25
When the youth paid no attention to him at all, the king appealed to the mother,
urging her to advise her boy to save his life. 26 After he had urged her for a long time,
she went through the motions of persuading her son. 27 In derision of the cruel
tyrant, she leaned over close to her son and said in their native language: “Son, have
pity on me, who carried you in my womb for nine months, nursed you for three
years, brought you up, educated and supported you to your present age. 28 I beg you,
child, to look at the heavens and the earth and see all that is in them; then you will
know that God did not make them out of existing things; and in the same way the
human race came into existence. 29 Do not be afraid of this executioner, but be
worthy of your brothers and accept death, so that in the time of mercy I may receive
you again with them.”
30 She had scarcely finished speaking when the youth said: “What are you waiting
for? I will not obey the king’s command. I obey the command of the law given to our
forefathers through Moses. 31 But you, who have contrived every kind of affliction for
the Hebrews, will not escape the hands of God. 32 We, indeed, are suffering because of
our sins. 33 Though our living Lord treats us harshly for a little while to correct us
with chastisements, he will again be reconciled with his servants. 34 But you, wretch,
vilest of all men! do not, in your insolence, concern yourself with unfounded hopes,
as you raise your hand against the children of Heaven. 35 You have not yet escaped
the judgment of the almighty and all-seeing God. 36 My brothers, after enduring brief
pain, have drunk of never-failing life, under God’s covenant, but you, by the judgment
of God, shall receive just punishments for your arrogance. 37 Like my brothers, I offer
up my body and my life for our ancestral laws, imploring God to show mercy soon to
our nation, and by afflictions and blows to make you confess that he alone is God. 38
Through me and my brothers, may there be an end to the wrath of the Almighty that
has justly fallen on our whole nation.”
39 At that, the king became enraged and treated him even worse than the others,
since he bitterly resented the boy’s contempt. 40 Thus he too died undefiled, putting
all his trust in the Lord.
41 The mother was last to die, after her sons.
42 Enough has been said about the sacrificial meals and the excessive cruelties.
There is a progression in the words the brothers address to the king before dying:
1) The just die rather than sin.
2) God will raise them up.
3) They will rise with bodies fully restored.
4) For the wicked there will be no resurrection to life.
5) Instead of resurrection, God will punish them.
6) The just suffer because of their sins, as will the wicked.
7) The death of the saints has imperatory (obtain by entreaty or petition) and even
expiatory (make atonement) value.
Thus, the sacred author states the theology of martyrdom and the resurrection of the just.
2nd Reading - 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5
Last week we began our study of 2 Thessalonians. Recall that this letter was written
to clear up some misunderstandings caused by the first letter. The misunderstandings
concerned the second coming and when it would occur. Some had even given up working in
anticipation of the event. Paul wrote to assure them that no one knew when it would occur
and that they were to keep on working until the end. Today we hear Paul’s prayer for
strengthening.
16 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,
Saint Paul stresses the gratuity of the gift. The gift is freely given to those who will accept it.
17 encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word. 3:1
Finally, brothers, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be
glorified, as it did among you,
And how did the word of the Lord speed forward and was glorified? The verse before our
reading today says for them to “hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an
oral statement or by a letter of ours.” The oral traditions were not new revelation, but
interpretations of the written word.
“From this it is clear that they did not hand down everything by letter, but there was much
also that was not written. Like that which was written, the unwritten too is worthy of
belief. So let us regard the tradition of the Church also as worthy of belief. Is it a tradition?
Seek no further.” [Saint John Chrysostom (between A.D. 398-404), Homilies on the Second
Epistle to the Thessalonians 4,2]
2 and that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked people, for not all have
faith.
Paul is requesting prayers for the continuous progress of the gospel and for those who
deliver it. We must always pray for our pope, bishops, priests, catechists and evangelists.
3 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
Satan
4 We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you, you (both) are doing
and will continue to do. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to
the endurance of Christ.
Prayer for an increase in the gift of God’s love and in the patient endurance of which Christ
is both the example and the donor (see Romans 15:5).
Gospel - Luke 20:27-38
Jesus is now in Jerusalem for His passion. He has made His triumphal entry which
we celebrate on Passion (Palm) Sunday, he has upset the establishment by cleansing the
temple. The Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees are all now interested in getting rid of Him.
27 Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and
put this question to him, 28 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.’
The question refers to the so-called levirate marriage (see Deuteronomy 25:5-10).
29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. 30
Then the second 31 and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died
childless. 32 Finally the woman also died. 33 Now at the resurrection whose wife will
that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” 34 Jesus said to them, “The
children of this age marry and remarry; 35 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.
Such Christians will share the heavenly blessedness of freedom from “the cares and
pleasures of life.”
36 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.
Jesus’ answer attacks the basic premise of the Sadducees: The life of the age to come is a
continuation of this life and therefore needs human propagation lest it die out.
37 That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
Exodus 3:2-6
when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; 38
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
Since God is the God of the living, God must have sustained the dead Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in life by resurrecting them.
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, Picayune, MS
http://www.scborromeo.org
http://www.scborromeo.org
THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, LUKE 20:27-38 or LUKE 20:27, 34-38
(2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14; Psalm 17; 2 Thessalonians 2:16―3:5)
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, LUKE 20:27-38 or LUKE 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 10 November 2019
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14. Psalm 16(17):1,5-6,8,15. 2 Thessalonians
2:16-3:5. Luke 20:27-38.
Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full – Psalm
16(17):1,5-6,8,15
‘He is God of the living’
Today’s readings remind us of our calling to unshakeable faith
in the promise of eternal life with God. All that is in this life, even our
most dear relationships, will not matter in the afterlife. In the coming life,
we will no longer have our earthly relations in the way we understand them on
this plane. Our true identity is that we are children of God. Our relationship
with God is all that will matter in the next life. Let us remember that in this
life.
Father, you have formed me in my mother’s womb. I am your child.
May I be detached from even the dearest relationships of this realm so that I
may always choose you above all things and return to you when I take my last
breath.
Saint Leo the Great
Saint of the Day for November 10
(d. November 10, 461)
 |
| The Meeting between Leo the Great (painted as a portrait of Leo X) and Attila | Raphael | photo by Art Renewal Center |
Saint Leo the Great’s Story
With apparent strong conviction of the importance of the Bishop
of Rome in the Church, and of the Church as the ongoing sign of Christ’s
presence in the world, Leo the Great displayed endless dedication as pope.
Elected in 440, he worked tirelessly as “Peter’s successor,” guiding his fellow
bishops as “equals in the episcopacy and infirmities.”
Leo is known as one of the best administrative popes of the
ancient Church. His work branched into four main areas, indicative of his
notion of the pope’s total responsibility for the flock of Christ. He worked at
length to control the heresies of Pelagianism—overemphasizing human
freedom—Manichaeism—seeing everything material as evil—and others, placing
demands on their followers so as to secure true Christian beliefs.
A second major area of his concern was doctrinal controversy in
the Church in the East, to which he responded with a classic letter setting
down the Church’s teaching on the two natures of Christ. With strong faith, he
also led the defense of Rome against barbarian attack, taking the role of
peacemaker.
In these three areas, Leo’s work has been highly regarded. His
growth to sainthood has its basis in the spiritual depth with which he
approached the pastoral care of his people, which was the fourth focus of his
work. He is known for his spiritually profound sermons. An instrument of the
call to holiness, well-versed in Scripture and ecclesiastical awareness, Leo
had the ability to reach the everyday needs and interests of his people. One of
his sermons is used in the Office of Readings on Christmas.
It is said of Leo that his true significance rests in his
doctrinal insistence on the mysteries of Christ and the Church and in the
supernatural charisms of the spiritual life given to humanity in Christ and in his
Body, the Church. Thus Leo held firmly that everything he did and said as pope
for the administration of the Church represented Christ, the head of the
Mystical Body, and Saint Peter, in whose place Leo acted.
Reflection
At a time when there is widespread criticism of Church
structures, we also hear criticism that bishops and priests—indeed, all of
us—are too preoccupied with administration of temporal matters. Pope Leo is an
example of a great administrator who used his talents in areas where spirit and
structure are inseparably combined: doctrine, peace, and pastoral care. He
avoided an “angelism” that tries to live without the body, as well as the
“practicality” that deals only in externals.
Lectio Divina: 32nd Sunday of ordinary time (C)
Lectio Divina
Sunday, November 10, 2019
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,
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.
And then my nothingness is life… it is eternal life.
Maria Evangelista of the Holy Trinity, O.Carm.
1. Lectio
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." Some of
the scribes said in reply, "Teacher, you have answered well." And
they no longer dared to ask him anything.
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, and 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 facing 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 better understand the
expression “Moses prescribed for us” repeated by the Sadducees in this
malicious debate which they use it 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 faith in the existence of 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 Macc 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 (Deut 25:5) concerning the ancient
traditions 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 Books of Genesis and 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 was also 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 a
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, defended 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 Moabitess, who remained a widow after having married one of the sons of
Elimelech. Together with her mother-in-law Naomi, Ruth 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 (Rom 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 Cor 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 as well: “That the dead resurrect has also been shown
by Moses regarding 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 (also transliterated as ehyeh), 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” (Rom 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 on
the existence of a political kingdom (in the case of God’s fidelity to His
people), nor on having prosperity and descendants in this life. The hope
of the true believer does not reside 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 Pet 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.
* How do you interpret the conflict which arose between the chief priests of the people and the Sadducees with Jesus?
* Stop and think on how Jesus confronted the conflict. What do you learn from His behavior?
* What do you think is the central point in the discussion?
* What does the resurrection from the dead mean for you?
* Do you feel like 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.
* How do you interpret the conflict which arose between the chief priests of the people and the Sadducees with Jesus?
* Stop and think on how Jesus confronted the conflict. What do you learn from His behavior?
* What do you think is the central point in the discussion?
* What does the resurrection from the dead mean for you?
* Do you feel like 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
Inspired by 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.
That I in my uprightness will see Your face,
and when I awake I shall be filled with the vision of You.
That 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 mankind, 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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