32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time
2 Maccabees 7:1–2, 9–14
Psalm 17:1, 5–6, 8, 15
2 Thessalonians 2:16–3:5
Luke 20:27–38
In the month of November, as winter’s darkness grows, we become more pensive, perhaps even somber. The weather for us is colder. The experience of life takes on a serious note, and we wonder how we will face whatever lies ahead.
The readings assigned to the end of the liturgical year invite us to contemplate “matters of consequence.” How are we to respond to the sufferings and persecutions that are inflicted on people of faith?
This has been a question for the people of God through the ages, and it certainly arises for us with all that is presented as “news” in our time. At home and abroad, we hear of many examples where men, women and even children are rejected and put to death for their commitment to faith.
A mother, left alone with seven children, decides to keep before her eyes the truth that God is the Creator of her children. She hides her grief and encourages each of her sons, even the youngest, to choose death rather than to compromise with a tyrant who wants to take the place of God. Her faith is rewarded by the witness of fidelity given by each of her sons.
The hope of resurrection begins to dawn upon the world in this account of the widow with seven sons in the Second Book of Maccabees. The faithful defiance of the youngest son still rings out as a charge that can be addressed to anyone who is blind to the shortness of earthly existence: “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.”
Sophisticated people claim to be enlightened, ridiculing any possibility of anything beyond what they can grasp with their minds. The Sadducees reject what is unseen and try to bait Jesus into a circular way of arguing from Scripture. With the example of a woman who married seven brothers and remained without a child, they believe that they have “proof” that the idea of resurrection is ridiculous.
“Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” Jesus’ reply calls for faith in the living God, rather than earth-bound reasoning.
“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.”
Jesus shows a new and personal way of reasoning that allows Scripture to move beyond mere letter to an encounter with God and His power to give life to those who are open: “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.”
Winter will give way to spring, and the earth will be renewed. Our faith allows us to put trust in God that He will bring us to life as well. “He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
May we persevere in faith, uniting our hearts with all who face persecution. May we stand true and give witness to the power of God, the living God. With the psalmist, we pray: “On waking I shall be content in your presence. … Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.”