First reading 2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14
‘The King of the world will raise us up to live for ever’
There were seven brothers who were arrested with their mother. The king tried to force them to taste pig’s flesh, which the Law forbids, by torturing them with whips and scourges. One of them, acting as spokesman for the others, said, ‘What are you trying to find out from us? We are prepared to die rather than break the laws of our ancestors.’
With his last breath the second brother exclaimed, ‘Inhuman fiend, you may discharge us from this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up, since it is for his laws that we die, to live again for ever.’
After him, they amused themselves with the third, who on being asked for his tongue promptly thrust it out and boldly held out his hands, with these honourable words, ‘It was heaven that gave me these limbs; for the sake of his laws I disdain them; from him I hope to receive them again.’ The king and his attendants were astounded at the young man’s courage and his utter indifference to suffering.
When this one was dead they subjected the fourth to the same savage torture. When he neared his end he cried, ‘Ours is the better choice, to meet death at men’s hands, yet relying on God’s promise that we shall be raised up by him; whereas for you there can be no resurrection, no new life.’
Responsorial Psalm 16(17):1,5-6,8,15
I shall be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory, O Lord.
Lord, hear a cause that is just,
pay heed to my cry.
Turn your ear to my prayer:
no deceit is on my lips.
I kept my feet firmly in your paths;
there was no faltering in my steps.
I am here and I call, you will hear me, O God.
Turn your ear to me; hear my words.
Guard me as the apple of your eye.
Hide me in the shadow of your wings
As for me, in my justice I shall see your face
and be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory.
Second reading 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5
May the Lord strengthen you in everything good that you do or say
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has given us his love and, through his grace, such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope, comfort you and strengthen you in everything good that you do or say.
Finally, brothers, pray for us; pray that the Lord’s message may spread quickly, and be received with honour as it was among you; and pray that we may be preserved from the interference of bigoted and evil people, for faith is not given to everyone. But the Lord is faithful, and he will give you strength and guard you from the evil one, and we, in the Lord, have every confidence that you are doing and will go on doing all that we tell you. May the Lord turn your hearts towards the love of God and the fortitude of Christ.
Gospel Luke 20:27-38
He is God, not of the dead, but of the living
Some Sadducees – those who say that there is no resurrection – approached Jesus and they put this question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, that if a man’s married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers. The first, having married a wife, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally the woman herself died. Now, at the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife since she had been married to all seven?’
Jesus replied, ‘The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are sons of God. And Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.’
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The resurrected life
In today’s gospel, some Sadducees, who did not believe in life beyond death, presented to Jesus a scenario to test Him. For the Sadducees,
life after death meant a continuation of life here on earth. Jesus, however, declared that though life continued for those who had died, it would not be the same life they had on earth. Instead, life after death would be an experience of a relationship without any taints of pride and
selfish interest but one of deep loving communion with God and each other. Thus, while we are alive, let us always work for communion with
God and the people around us.
“Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him everyone is alive”. We find comfort in these words of Jesus. Death does not have the power to separate us from God. Our dearly departed loved ones continue to live in God’s eternal love. We will one day be reunited with them when we reach the end of our earthly pilgrimage.
Reflective question:
How do I see my life here, now and in eternity as a child of God?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
