Friday, November 24, 2023

25-NOV-'23, Preparing for Eternity - Saturday of the 32nd Week in OT


Saturday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 502


Reading 1

1 Maccabees 6:1-13

As King Antiochus was traversing the inland provinces,

he heard that in Persia there was a city called Elymais,

famous for its wealth in silver and gold,

and that its temple was very rich,

containing gold helmets, breastplates, and weapons

left there by Alexander, son of Philip,

king of Macedon, the first king of the Greeks.

He went therefore and tried to capture and pillage the city.

But he could not do so,

because his plan became known to the people of the city

who rose up in battle against him.

So he retreated and in great dismay withdrew from there

to return to Babylon.


While he was in Persia, a messenger brought him news

that the armies sent into the land of Judah had been put to flight;

that Lysias had gone at first with a strong army

and been driven back by the children of Israel;

that they had grown strong

by reason of the arms, men, and abundant possessions

taken from the armies they had destroyed;

that they had pulled down the Abomination

which he had built upon the altar in Jerusalem;

and that they had surrounded with high walls

both the sanctuary, as it had been before,

and his city of Beth-zur.


When the king heard this news,

he was struck with fear and very much shaken.

Sick with grief because his designs had failed, he took to his bed.

There he remained many days, overwhelmed with sorrow,

for he knew he was going to die.


So he called in all his Friends and said to them:

"Sleep has departed from my eyes,

for my heart is sinking with anxiety.

I said to myself: 'Into what tribulation have I come,

and in what floods of sorrow am I now!

Yet I was kindly and beloved in my rule.'

But I now recall the evils I did in Jerusalem,

when I carried away all the vessels of gold and silver

that were in it, and for no cause

gave orders that the inhabitants of Judah be destroyed.

I know that this is why these evils have overtaken me;

and now I am dying, in bitter grief, in a foreign land."


Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 9:2-3, 4 and 6, 16 and 19

R. (see 16a) I will rejoice in your salvation, O Lord.

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart;

I will declare all your wondrous deeds.

I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, Most High.

R. I will rejoice in your salvation, O Lord.

Because my enemies are turned back,

overthrown and destroyed before you.

You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;

their name you blotted out forever and ever.

R. I will rejoice in your salvation, O Lord.

The nations are sunk in the pit they have made;

in the snare they set, their foot is caught.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

nor shall the hope of the afflicted forever perish.

R. I will rejoice in your salvation, O Lord.


Alleluia

See 2 Timothy 1:10

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death

and brought life to light through the Gospel.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.


Gospel

Luke 20:27-40

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,

came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying,

"Teacher, Moses wrote for us,

If someone's brother dies leaving a wife but no child,

his brother must take the wife

and raise up descendants for his brother.

Now there were seven brothers;

the first married a woman but died childless.

Then the second and the third married her,

and likewise all the seven died childless.

Finally the woman also died.

Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?

For all seven had been married to her."

Jesus said to them,

"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.

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.

That the dead will rise

even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,

when he called '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."

Some of the scribes said in reply,

"Teacher, you have answered well."

And they no longer dared to ask him anything.


Reflection 1

Catholic Daily Reflections


Preparing for Eternity


“That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called  ‘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.” Luke 20:37–38


Jesus gives this response to some of the Sadducees who question Him about the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the body, whereas the Pharisees did. Thus, the Sadducees asked Jesus about the resurrection of the body using an almost unheard of example. They refer to the levirate law found in Deuteronomy 25:5ff which states that if a married man dies before having children, the brother of that man must marry his wife and provide descendants for his brother. Thus, the Sadducees present the scenario where seven brothers die, each one subsequently taking the same wife. The question they posed was, “Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” Jesus answers by explaining that marriage is for this life, not the life to come at the resurrection. Therefore, none of the brothers will be married to her when they rise.


Some spouses have a hard time with this teaching, in that they love their spouse and desire to remain married in Heaven and at the time of the final resurrection. For those who feel this way, rest assured that the bonds of love we form on earth will remain and even be strengthened in Heaven. And when the end of the world comes and all of our bodies rise and are reunited with our souls, those bonds of love will remain stronger than ever. However, marriage, in the earthly sense, will be no more. It will be replaced by the pure love of the new life to come.


This teaching gives us reason to ponder further the beautiful teaching of our Lord about His return in glory and, as we say in the Creed, “the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” We profess this belief every Sunday at Mass. But for many, it can be hard to understand. So what do we actually believe? 


Simply put, we believe that when we die, our body is “laid to rest,” but our soul enters a moment of particular judgment. Those who remain in mortal sin are eternally separated from God. But those who die in a state of grace will eternally live with God. Most people who die will most likely die with some lasting venial sins on their soul. Thus, Purgatory is the grace of final purification that the person’s soul encounters upon death. Purgatory is simply the purifying love of God which has the effect of eliminating every last sin and imperfection, and every attachment to sin, so that the purified soul can see God face-to-face in Heaven. But it doesn’t stop there. We also believe that at some definitive time in world history, Jesus will return to earth and transform it. This is His Final Judgment. At that time, every body will rise, and we will live eternally as we were intended to live: body and soul united as one. Those souls who are in mortal sin will also be reunited with their bodies, but their body and soul will live separated from God forever. Thankfully, those who are in a state of grace and have endured their final purification will be resurrected and share in the new Heavens and new Earth forever, body and soul as God intended.


Reflect, today, upon this glorious teaching of our Lord that you profess faith in every time you pray the Creed. Keeping your eyes on Heaven and, especially, on the final and glorious resurrected state in which you will live in the new Heaven and Earth must become your daily practice. The more we live with this holy expectation, the more we will live here and now as a time of preparation for this final existence. Build treasure now in anticipation of this glorious day and believe that it is the eternity to which you are called.


Reflection 2

One Bread, One Body


PREPARE FOR DEATH BY LIVING FOR JESUS


“They become like angels and are no longer liable to death.” —Luke 20:36


The readings for today’s Mass display some people who had misunderstandings about death. King Antiochus was dying in confusion and so did not prepare well for his death (1 Mc 6:8-13). The Sadducees tried to “use” death in an absurd example to politicize their beliefs (see Lk 20:27-33). These misunderstandings about death continue in the present day. The abortion industry plies its trade in death, and makes its profits from death. For them, death means money. Halloween, which has evolved into a holiday that glorifies death, must be pleasing to Satan, “the prince of death” (Heb 2:14). The secular culture often twists death to appear attractive. No wonder suicide is so prevalent; it is presented as a solution to our problems.


If we place our hopes in this world alone, we “are the most pitiable of” people (1 Cor 15:19). If we insist on living without Jesus, we face not being prepared for our death.


Tomorrow we celebrate the feast of Christ the King, Lord of the Universe. Jesus is “the Resurrection and the Life” (Jn 11:25), “the Way, and the Truth, and the Life” (Jn 14:6). He is the “Author of Life” (Acts 3:15). Living in Jesus, we focus on life “to the full” (Jn 10:10), not on death.


Therefore, “choose life” (Dt 30:19). “In whatever you do, remember your last days, and you will never sin” (Sir 7:36). Repent! Now is the time! (2 Cor 6:2) Prepare for death by living for Jesus.


Prayer:  “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”


Promise:  “The needy shall not always be forgotten, nor shall the hope of the afflicted forever perish.” —Ps 9:19


Praise:  St. Catherine is said to have had a vision of Baby Jesus before her Baptism. God used her wisdom to convert fifty pagan philosophers.


Reflection 3

The Servants of the Word


All Live to Him


Is your life earth-bound or heaven-bound? The Sadducees had one big problem - they could not conceive of heaven beyond what they could see with their naked eyes! Aren't we often like them? We don't recognize spiritual realities because we try to make heaven into an earthly image. The Sadducees came to Jesus with a test question to make the resurrection look ridiculous. The Sadducees, unlike the Pharisees, did not believe in immortality, nor in angels or evil spirits. Their religion was literally grounded in an earthly image of heaven.


The Scriptures give witness - we will rise again to immortal life

Jesus retorts by dealing with the fact of the resurrection. The scriptures give proof of it. In Exodus 3:6, when God manifests his presence to Moses in the burning bush, the Lord tells him that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He shows that the patriarchs who died hundreds of years previously were still alive in God. Jesus defeats their arguments by showing that God is a living God of a living people. God was the friend of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when they lived. That friendship could not cease with death. As Psalm 73:23-24 states: "I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory."


The ultimate proof of the resurrection is the Lord Jesus and his victory over death when he rose from the tomb. Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he exclaimed: "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25). Jesus asks us the same question. Do you believe in the resurrection and in the promise of eternal life with God?


Jesus came to restore Paradise and everlasting life for us

The Holy Spirit reveals to us the eternal truths of God's unending love and the life he desires to share with us for all eternity. Paul the Apostle, quoting from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 64:4; 65:17) states: "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him," God has revealed to us through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). The promise of paradise - heavenly bliss and unending life with an all-loving God - is beyond human reckoning. We have only begun to taste the first-fruits! Do you live now in the joy and hope of the life of the age to come?


Prayers


My resurrected Lord, You now reign in Heaven, body and soul, in anticipation of the final and glorious resurrection of all the dead. May I always keep my eyes on this final goal of human life and do all that I can to prepare for this eternity of glory and love. Jesus, I trust in You.


Lord, please free me from the fear of this glorious Sacrament.  Help me to see my sins honestly but only as I also gaze upon Your infinite Mercy.  Give my heart a burning desire for this Mercy and a longing for the freedom it brings.  I love You, dear Lord.  Jesus, I trust in You.


May the Lord Jesus put his hands on our eyes also, for then we too shall begin to look not at what is seen but at what is not seen. May he open the eyes that are concerned not with the present but with what is yet to come, may he unseal the heart's vision, that we may gaze on God in the Spirit, through the same Lord, Jesus Christ, whose glory and power will endure throughout the unending succession of ages. (Prayer of Origen, 185-254 AD)

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