Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
(I Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 7:36-50)
At the beginning of his letter, Paul wrote that he was
responding to questions he had received from the Corinthians. He reserves addressing the question of the
resurrection from the dead for last because it is the most important of
all. Indeed, as John 3:16, proclaimed at
Mass just the other day, testifies, human salvation hangs upon belief in
it. Why is the question of resurrection so
critical? Two reasons come to mind.
The first reason presents the issue from the human
perspective. Death is the greatest of
evils, the most formidable of human enemies.
This is evident in the death of a youth when most of the joys and hopes
of life are yet unrealized. But even for
an elderly person, death takes away all that is of greatest meaning – loving
relationships, growth in knowledge and wisdom, and hope of union with the
Creator. God’s gift of resurrection from
the dead assures the realization of these blessings.
The second reason suggests God’s perspective. Belief in the resurrection– the permanent and
completely unexpected victory of life – implies acceptance of Jesus’ message. Jesus came to preach God’s gratuitous and
inviolate love for humans. Acceptance of
this love requires a similarly radical belief in the outrageous claim of
resurrection from the dead. Paul
provides a long list of witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. Nevertheless, belief for rational people is still
daunting. It takes an abiding trust as
well as a firm conviction of will to reorient our lives in line with God’s love.
