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Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass Readings
First Reading: 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14
Responsorial: Psalm 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15
Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5
Gospel: Luke 20:27-38 or Luke 20:27, 34-38
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/111019.cfm
Will the dead rise? No, I’m not talking about the zombie apocalypse. I’m talking about one of the “big questions” of life and our readings today grapple with this head on. The Sadducees who were part of the Jewish priestly class did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. In fact, after the experience of the Maccabean martyrs that we heard about in our first reading from 2 Maccabees chapter 7, the belief in the resurrection of the dead was growing. <1> Indeed, this is a central Christian belief today. We profess this idea in the Creed we recite every Sunday when we say: I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. We call this the doctrine of eschatology. <2>
The Sadducees use the resurrection of the dead to try to trap Jesus. They present their question about a woman whose husband died. According to the levirate law handed to them from Moses, if the dead husband didn’t have any children before he died, then his brother should marry the woman. At the end of their question, the woman has had to marry seven times, marrying a different brother each time.
Jesus answers saying, “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,” (Luke 20:34-35). What does this mean?
The entire point of the levirate law, besides providing for the widow, was to help continue the line of the fatherless husband – to continue the family name. But Jesus points out that in the life to come – in the resurrection of the dead, “the worthy” cannot die. He says, “They can no longer die, for they are like angels…”, (Luke 20:36). Since they cannot die, there is no need to try to preserve the family name.
But Jesus goes on to say clarify that the Pentateuch which the Sadducees cling to demonstrates the resurrection of the dead. When the Lord presented himself to Moses, He identified himself as the God of the patriarchs, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” (Luke 20:37). Why would God refer to Himself this way if the patriarchs are dead and forever lost? God, Jesus points out, is, “not God of the dead, but of the living,” (Luke 20:38).
How can they be alive? The emerging Jewish teaching taught that there must be an intermediate state. <3> This teaching is affirmed by the Christian faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: Those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they “see him as he is,” face to face, (no. 1023).
Homework! Having been nourished by the Word of God proclaimed and by the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect on the following:
- Pray something like this: Jesus, thank you for destroying death so that I may live forever!
- I encourage you to remember in your daily prayers your family and friends who have passed away and all the souls in purgatory.
Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Now go make disciples! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!
Notes:
<1> The Gospel of Luke by Pablo T. Gadenz, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Baker Academic (2018).
<2> Himes, Michael, The Mystery of Faith: An Introduction to Catholicism (Cincinnati, OH: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2004), 119-124.
<3> Ratzinger, Eschatology, 124, as quoted in The Gospel of Luke by Pablo T. Gadenz, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Baker Academic (2018). Ratzinger writes: Indeed, Josephus (Jewish War 2.163; 3.372-74; Jewish Antiquities 18.14) explains that the Pharisees believed in both an immediate life after death because of the immortality of the soul and a future resurrection of the body.
Church teaching:
- Catechism of the Catholic Church: resurrection of the dead, 575, 993; virginity as a sign of the coming age, 1619; angels, 330.