THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
(II Maccabees 7:1-2.9-14; II Thessalonians 2:16-3:5; Luke
20:27-38)
There is a woman who is over a hundred years old. Because
she has various medical issues, it has been suggested that she accept a type of
hospice. But she rejects the offer. She says that she is not ready to die. She like
most people has a strong will to live. If we asked them why, they would say
something like they want to continue enjoying life. They would consider eating tasty
food, viewing different artistic expressions, and interacting with interesting
people as joys of life. Perhaps the king in the first reading today believes
that the seven brothers would eat the forbidden pork so that they would have these
kinds of experiences.
However, the brothers do not find these pleasures, nor any
other worldly experience, as valuable compared to faithfulness to God. Above
all in life, they try to please God, their Creator and Redeemer. They know that
what is worth living is worth dying for. And they wouldn't die merely to eat
chocolates or chat with the mayor. No, they would die to save the life of a
family member, to defend the homeland from aggressors, and, most importantly,
to maintain a firm relationship with God. Actually, the first two reasons to
die may be enfolded into the third. When we sacrifice ourselves for the good of
family or country, we fulfill the commandments of God.
However, when we try to live only for worldly goods, we are
limiting our horizon. We're going to reach it if not this year, then in another.
You see, we are programmed to lose the
taste of food and the ability to relate to others. Our bodies just cannot last
more than five or six scores of years. Death is as sure as the setting of the
sun every evening.
The young men of the reading are aware of another reality
hidden from the world but perceptible to people of faith. They intuit from the
Scriptures that God will resurrect men and women who live for Him. Since God
wants everyone in His family, all those who dispose themselves to live for Him will
live with Him forever. Their horizon will have no limits.
When the Sadducees in the Gospel today question Jesus about
eternal life, he confirms the position of the brothers. He draws on the
Scriptures to show that the righteous live forever. He has found in Genesis
this understanding. God is (not only was) the Father of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. Therefore, they must be alive. Also,
his entire mission has suggested this outcome. He has preached the need for repentance
because the Kingdom of God (that is, God in all His love) is ready to reward
those who return to Him. His miracles, particularly his raising the dead to
life again, have indicated this power to resurrect the faithful. Of course, at
the end of this mission, Jesus will give his life for the good of the people in
accordance with the will of God the Father. The result of his supreme sacrifice
will be God’s raising Jesus from the dead as the firstfruits of eternal life.
We are not the first to ask, what is worth dying for?
Enthusiasts have answered their own question with such things as palaces or
cruises. We are not so naive that we believe them. What is worth dying for?
Only life in Christ because it is life forever. It is the life of love for our
families, for our country, and above all for our God.
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