Cycle C 32nd Sunday in the ordinary Time
Satish2 Mac 7:1-2, 9-14; 2 Thes 2,16-3:5; Lk:20: 27-38
Life after death has been a burning problem for many in every century. So, the legends, folklore and fiction are full of stories of man’s attempt to gain immortality.
There is a story about Alexander’s quest for immortality. Alexander, the great, came to understand that in the mountain of Kaf there was a great cave, very black and dark, wherein ran the water of immortality. He decided to undertake a journey to the dark cave. Being afraid that he might lose his way in the cave, he decided to seek the advice of some old men. An old man advised Alexander to take a mare that had a colt at her heels, and leave the colt at the entrance of the cave; the mare would infallibly bring him back to the same place without any trouble.
Alexander advanced so far that he came to a gate. On the shining gate he saw a bird. The bird asked Alexander what he wanted. Alexander replied that he was looking for the water of immortality. The bird asked him one more question. Then it died and the gate opened. Alexander looked in. He saw an angel sitting there with a trumpet in his hand. He asked the Angel his name. The Angel answered that his name was Raphael. He asked Alexander who he was. He replied that he was Alexander, and he was looking for the water of immortality. The Angel gave him a stone and asked him to look for another stone of the same weight; then he would find immortality.
Alexander searched far and wide. Finally he found a stone almost of the same weight. He put both the stones on the balance. Finding very little difference he added a little earth which made the scales even. A few days later Alexander had a fall in the barren ground of Ghur. His attendants laid him upon the coat he wore. Then began to realize the meaning of the words of the Angel that he could attain immortality only when he would be put to the earth.
Today’s readings speak about immortality. The first reading gives the account of a mother and seven sons who preferred death to going against their faith. They declared, “The King of the world will raise us up, since it is for his laws that we die, to live again for ever (2 Mac 7:9). The mother and the sever brothers were deeply convinced that immortality will be granted by God, “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.”
But this conviction was not shared by a group of Jews called the Sadducees. In the Gospels we hear about two groups of Jews. The Pharisees and the Sadducees. Though they are often mentioned together they had different beliefs.
There are a lot of differences between both the groups. The Pharisees were entirely a religious body. They had no political ambition. They were not bothered about the government as long as they had freedom of worship. The Sadducees were few but wealthy. They were largely collaborationist with Rome.
The Pharisees believed in the resurrection, in Angels and Spirits; whereas the Sadducees held that there was no resurrection from the dead, and that there were no Angels or spirits.
The Pharisees believed in fate, but the Sadducees did not believe in fate.
The Sadducees, then, came with this question about who would be the husband in heaven of the woman who was married to seven different men. They regarded such a question as the kind of thing that made belief in the resurrection of the body ridiculous. Jesus gave them an answer which has permanently valid truth in it. He said that we must not think of heaven in terms of this earth.
The Sadducees were not able to grasp the meaning of the word of God, because they spoke the way they did. Their minds, exclusively bent on material things, prevented them from understanding God’s plan expressed in the Scriptures.
There are a lot of silly questions that divert our attention from the most fundamental question of the purpose of our existence. It is absurd to think that all the beauty in the world, all the love that we experience, all the pursuit of justice, all the compassion and sacrifice that we make come to end at the grave. Rather, they attain their perfection when they touch the earth. Their transformation and glorification happen at death. We still remember the concern of Fr Damian, who took pity on the lepers and lived with them. Our hearts are full of the kind deeds of Mother Theresa. We recall the attempts of Abraham Lincoln to grant freedom to the slaves of America. We value the works of Mahatma Gandhi. We remember the pardon offered to his enemies by the late Pope John Paul II. Death has transformed them and their actions. In one of his lighter moments, Benjamin Franklin (one of the most important Founding Fathers of the United States, author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat), penned his own epitaph. It seems he must have been influenced by Paul's teaching on the resurrection of the body. Here's what he wrote: The Body of B. Franklin, the former printer lies here, food for worms, like the cover of an old book: its contents torn out, and stripped of its lettering and gilding. But the work shall not be wholly lost: for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new & more perfect edition, corrected and amended by its Author. (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/franklin-epitaph.html).
A physical death is not so much the end of life, as a step to another more perfect life, one that last forever. At physical death begins a new journey. We have to be always ready to begin this journey.
Today’s Second reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians opens our eyes to the fact that the Lord strengthens our hearts in every good work and word.
St Paul urges us to get ready for eternal life by humbly asking Jesus to help us to be faithful to him.
Life after death has been a burning problem for many in every century. So, the legends, folklore and fiction are full of stories of man’s attempt to gain immortality.
There is a story about Alexander’s quest for immortality. Alexander, the great, came to understand that in the mountain of Kaf there was a great cave, very black and dark, wherein ran the water of immortality. He decided to undertake a journey to the dark cave. Being afraid that he might lose his way in the cave, he decided to seek the advice of some old men. An old man advised Alexander to take a mare that had a colt at her heels, and leave the colt at the entrance of the cave; the mare would infallibly bring him back to the same place without any trouble.
Alexander advanced so far that he came to a gate. On the shining gate he saw a bird. The bird asked Alexander what he wanted. Alexander replied that he was looking for the water of immortality. The bird asked him one more question. Then it died and the gate opened. Alexander looked in. He saw an angel sitting there with a trumpet in his hand. He asked the Angel his name. The Angel answered that his name was Raphael. He asked Alexander who he was. He replied that he was Alexander, and he was looking for the water of immortality. The Angel gave him a stone and asked him to look for another stone of the same weight; then he would find immortality.
Alexander searched far and wide. Finally he found a stone almost of the same weight. He put both the stones on the balance. Finding very little difference he added a little earth which made the scales even. A few days later Alexander had a fall in the barren ground of Ghur. His attendants laid him upon the coat he wore. Then began to realize the meaning of the words of the Angel that he could attain immortality only when he would be put to the earth.
Today’s readings speak about immortality. The first reading gives the account of a mother and seven sons who preferred death to going against their faith. They declared, “The King of the world will raise us up, since it is for his laws that we die, to live again for ever (2 Mac 7:9). The mother and the sever brothers were deeply convinced that immortality will be granted by God, “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.”
But this conviction was not shared by a group of Jews called the Sadducees. In the Gospels we hear about two groups of Jews. The Pharisees and the Sadducees. Though they are often mentioned together they had different beliefs.
There are a lot of differences between both the groups. The Pharisees were entirely a religious body. They had no political ambition. They were not bothered about the government as long as they had freedom of worship. The Sadducees were few but wealthy. They were largely collaborationist with Rome.
The Pharisees believed in the resurrection, in Angels and Spirits; whereas the Sadducees held that there was no resurrection from the dead, and that there were no Angels or spirits.
The Pharisees believed in fate, but the Sadducees did not believe in fate.
The Sadducees, then, came with this question about who would be the husband in heaven of the woman who was married to seven different men. They regarded such a question as the kind of thing that made belief in the resurrection of the body ridiculous. Jesus gave them an answer which has permanently valid truth in it. He said that we must not think of heaven in terms of this earth.
The Sadducees were not able to grasp the meaning of the word of God, because they spoke the way they did. Their minds, exclusively bent on material things, prevented them from understanding God’s plan expressed in the Scriptures.
There are a lot of silly questions that divert our attention from the most fundamental question of the purpose of our existence. It is absurd to think that all the beauty in the world, all the love that we experience, all the pursuit of justice, all the compassion and sacrifice that we make come to end at the grave. Rather, they attain their perfection when they touch the earth. Their transformation and glorification happen at death. We still remember the concern of Fr Damian, who took pity on the lepers and lived with them. Our hearts are full of the kind deeds of Mother Theresa. We recall the attempts of Abraham Lincoln to grant freedom to the slaves of America. We value the works of Mahatma Gandhi. We remember the pardon offered to his enemies by the late Pope John Paul II. Death has transformed them and their actions. In one of his lighter moments, Benjamin Franklin (one of the most important Founding Fathers of the United States, author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat), penned his own epitaph. It seems he must have been influenced by Paul's teaching on the resurrection of the body. Here's what he wrote: The Body of B. Franklin, the former printer lies here, food for worms, like the cover of an old book: its contents torn out, and stripped of its lettering and gilding. But the work shall not be wholly lost: for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new & more perfect edition, corrected and amended by its Author. (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/franklin-epitaph.html).
A physical death is not so much the end of life, as a step to another more perfect life, one that last forever. At physical death begins a new journey. We have to be always ready to begin this journey.
Today’s Second reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians opens our eyes to the fact that the Lord strengthens our hearts in every good work and word.
St Paul urges us to get ready for eternal life by humbly asking Jesus to help us to be faithful to him.
Anecdote 1) Making the right choice: In the film ‘Romero’ which tells the story of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, a supporting character named Lucia foresees that her continuing struggle for freedom may end up in personal tragedy. She asks a priest who is also involved in the struggle whether it is all worthwhile. She wonders whether there really is an afterlife. If not, why keep up the fight for freedom? Yet she chooses to continue to fight, knowing what that choice means. Eventually her fears are realized, and she is murdered for her beliefs. In our own country, we do not face the choice Lucia faced. But we do have to choose whether to follow Christ or simply to eat, to drink and be merry. This Sunday’s readings can help us to face this choice. -J.E. Spicer in ‘Preparing for Sunday’
Anecdote 2) Antidote to Worry: The only son of a mother had died on the war front. World War II was then raging and matters had to be done. A neighbour was informed and requested to convey the distressing news to the mother. The neighbour gathered a few friends and went over to her house. She was on her hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor. The man said quietly, “I have something very sad to tell you.” Then he paused. “Bill has been killed in France.” The mother hesitated just for a moment, and then the brush continued going round and round. Finally she said, “Well, all of you sit down, won’t you please? I’ll make you a cup of tea.” They protested but she insisted. “Please,” she said. “I want to make you some tea! I feel like doing it.” And she chatted while she boiled the water, brought out some cakes, arranged the tea, and sat down with the callers. A long time after the time of mourning was over, her neighbour said to her, “I’ve always admired you for the way you took the news of your boy’s death. But I have never been able to understand it. “Well,” she said, “my grandmother one told me, ‘Whenever you get distressing news, don’t stop your work. Continue with it. Whatever you are supposed to be doing at that moment, you should do. The best antidote for worry is trust in God and work.” -Francis Xavier in ‘The World’s Best Inspiring Stories’
Anecdote 3) Immortality of the Soul: Many of our contemporaries no longer believe in the immortality of the soul or the resurrection of the body. Taken up with the tragic and repelling character of death, they cannot conceive that life can continue under other forms when earthly existence is ended. There are even Christians who go along with the view of death as a definite end: they have no hope of either a personal afterlife or a general resurrection. For them Jesus only lives in his disciples in the measure in which they keep his memory and live in his spirit. In their scepticism both these groups recall the Sadducees of Jesus’ time: political opportunists, religiously conservative, they preserved the old concept of a colourless survival of souls in an uncertain ‘Sheol’. The teaching on the resurrection of the dead, formulated much later than Moses, seemed to them stupid and useless. In this spirit, they put to Jesus in today’s Gospel one of those fantastic problems dear to all casuists. Taking the law that a man must marry his brother’s childless widow, they use it to pour ridicule on the doctrine they reject. Jesus does not meet them on their own level. In the new world of the resurrection there will be no question of marriage or procreation! On the deepest level Jesus replies by an act faith in God, the living One! He is the God not of a short human life, But of a covenant, and cannot be limited by corruptible existence. He is the God not of the dead in a state of suspended judgement, but of those who put in him their hope of life. The resurrection is not a doctrine one can take or leave; Jesus himself was to die as witness to this hope in the God of the living”. –Glenstal Bible Missal
Anecdote 4) Film: Truly Madly Deeply: Truly Madly Deeply is a film about life after death. Nina’s lover a musician named Jamie, dies from a simple throat ailment. Nina goes to a therapist to cope with her grief. She often senses Jamie’s presence and hears his music. She receives some support from her friends at the translation school where she works. Then she begins to ‘see’ Jamie and starts a whole new relationship with him as a man-ghost. She is happy although she is somewhat unsure about the reality of what is happening. Later Nina encounters Mark, an art therapist who works with a group of young adults with Down’s syndrome. They invite her to join them. Nina and Mark start to date. This enables Nina finally to confront Jamie the ghost-man and ask him to leave. She tells him she must let him go and live her life. As she goes off with Mark, the ghosts watch her from her window and Jamie sheds a tear. –Truly Madly Deeply’s underlying themes of bereavement and letting go are explored as a love story that cannot be. We can empathize with Nina’s loss at Jamie’s death but her relationship with Jamie the ghost-man is unreal and she has to let go and get on with her own life. We can take Jesus’ words at the end of the gospel as a reminder that our God is a God of the living, and that we must live our lives here on earth to the full. The afterlife is different from here and now and we must let go of those who have died. As they go to their new and eternal life, we continue our journey in hope. -Peter Malone in ‘Light, Camera…Faith!’
Anecdote 5) The Stopped Up Dam: There was a beautiful lake that lost its zesty freshness. The water formerly had been clear. It was alluring to animals and people alike. But it became covered with green scum. The farm animals became sick from drinking the water. Finally someone came to the lake who understood the problem. Debris collecting from the hard spring rains had stopped up the dam and prevented the free flow of water not into the lake, but out of the lake. The spillway was cleared and soon the lake was fresh and clean again. The flow in and out was necessary to keep the water pure! –Doesn’t the same principle apply to you and me as human beings? The blessings of God flow to you and me, but we fail to realize that most of these blessings are not meant to us, but through us, for the good of others around us, especially for those in need. -Richard Patt in ‘All Stirred Up’
Anecdote 6) At death life begins…: Gerald Kempis, brother of Thomas, had a beautiful palace built and invited his friends to admire it. Everybody admired it, but only one could find fault with it. “You have a beautiful palace, but I still would give you some advice.” “What?” asked the owner. “Have the door walled up.” “Which?” “The one through which you will be taken out one day to the cemetery…” “Ah, but this door cannot be walled up, for death is an unwelcome guest from which man cannot escape.” –Alexander the Great asked to be buried with open hands so that people would see that in spite of all his possessions he wasn’t taking anything with him. Prince Albert, upon his death-bed is reported to have said, “I have had wealth, rank and power. But if this were all I had, how wretched I should be now.” Guido Salvadori, Italian poet and professor at the Sacred Heart University at Milan, when he was on his death-bed, asked for his best suit. “Now” he said “begins my feast….” -J. Maurus in ‘A Source-Book of Inspiration’
Anecdote 7) Resurrection of the dead: The film Amadeus ends showing the funeral of the great musician Mozart. He died at the age of 35. A genius, he never re-copied his compositions. He never had to make corrections, so the first draft was also the final copy. A genius, he started playing several instruments at the age of four, wrote several symphonies by the age of eight and created at least 528 musical compositions before he died at age 35. He was a genius, whom one authority calls "one of the brightest stars in the musical firmament." What a waste, that he should have died so young! It makes you wonder: is this life all there is? Imagine a beloved spouse, a darling parent or grandparent, a close friend, lying cold in the coffin. Is this life all there is? We try to comfort ourselves with the doctrine of the resurrection. We say: the genius of people like Mozart is not going to be wasted. The love of dear ones - the squeeze of their hands and the music in their voices - that love will be enjoyed in even greater intensity. A Sadducee in Jesus’ time might say, "I don't believe it; the doctrine is absurd." That was the point the Sadducees wanted to make by challenging Jesus with an absurd story of a woman who married seven husbands, in today’s gospel.
Anecdote 8) Sign of the cross by Brezhnev's wife: As Vice-President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev who was the president of the U.S.S.R. for 18 years. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow Mrs. Natalia. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: she reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband. -Gary Thomas, Christian Times, October 3, 1994, p. 26.
Anecdote 9) The epitaph of Benjamin Franklin: In one of his lighter moments, Benjamin Franklin (one of the most important Founding Fathers of the United States, author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat), penned his own epitaph. It seems he must have been influenced by Paul's teaching on the resurrection of the body. Here's what he wrote: The Body of B. Franklin, the former printer lies here, food for worms, like the cover of an old book: its contents torn out, and stripped of its lettering and gilding. But the work shall not be wholly lost: for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new & more perfect edition, corrected and amended by its Author. (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/franklin-epitaph.html ).
Anecdote 7) Resurrection of the dead: The film Amadeus ends showing the funeral of the great musician Mozart. He died at the age of 35. A genius, he never re-copied his compositions. He never had to make corrections, so the first draft was also the final copy. A genius, he started playing several instruments at the age of four, wrote several symphonies by the age of eight and created at least 528 musical compositions before he died at age 35. He was a genius, whom one authority calls "one of the brightest stars in the musical firmament." What a waste, that he should have died so young! It makes you wonder: is this life all there is? Imagine a beloved spouse, a darling parent or grandparent, a close friend, lying cold in the coffin. Is this life all there is? We try to comfort ourselves with the doctrine of the resurrection. We say: the genius of people like Mozart is not going to be wasted. The love of dear ones - the squeeze of their hands and the music in their voices - that love will be enjoyed in even greater intensity. A Sadducee in Jesus’ time might say, "I don't believe it; the doctrine is absurd." That was the point the Sadducees wanted to make by challenging Jesus with an absurd story of a woman who married seven husbands, in today’s gospel.
Anecdote 8) Sign of the cross by Brezhnev's wife: As Vice-President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev who was the president of the U.S.S.R. for 18 years. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow Mrs. Natalia. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: she reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband. -Gary Thomas, Christian Times, October 3, 1994, p. 26.
Anecdote 9) The epitaph of Benjamin Franklin: In one of his lighter moments, Benjamin Franklin (one of the most important Founding Fathers of the United States, author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat), penned his own epitaph. It seems he must have been influenced by Paul's teaching on the resurrection of the body. Here's what he wrote: The Body of B. Franklin, the former printer lies here, food for worms, like the cover of an old book: its contents torn out, and stripped of its lettering and gilding. But the work shall not be wholly lost: for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new & more perfect edition, corrected and amended by its Author. (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/franklin-epitaph.html ).