4-Nov-07
Dear Friend,
Sometimes when confronted with terrible events and unexpected death and
suffering of innocent ones, we ask: Where is God? Why do these things have to
happen? Why does not God do something? Does life make any sense in the face of
evil? God does not provide satisfactory answers but our faith in God can help
us to live and go beyond. Our God is a God of life and of the living. He brings
forth and sustains life! Have a faith renewing weekend! Fr. Jude
Sunday Reflections: Thirty-second Sunday -Eternal life in God 11-11-07
Readings: Macabees 2: 7:1-2, 9-14; 2 Thess. 2:16 - 3:5; Luke 20: 27-38;
The context of today’s first reading is the persecution by King Antiochus of
the Jews because of their fidelity to their religion. As today, just as in the
past, the abstention from eating pork characterized one of the religious
practices of the Jews. They were persecuted for this and forced to eat pork in
public which they resisted. In today’s reading we see the powerful witness that
a family gives as they prefer to die rather than go against their faith. The
motto of the religious Jew was: Death rather than going against God’s precepts
and commandments. The brave mother consoles and encourages her seven sons to go
their death rather than betray their God. This is one of the first expressions
in the Old Testament of belief in the personal resurrection. In the face of
persecution Israel confesses that God is sufficiently powerful and just to
raise them to a blessed life.
Eternal Life
Over the triple doorway of the Cathedral of Milan are some carvings. One is a
beautiful wreath of roses and underneath are these words: “All that pleases is
just for a moment.” Over another is a cross, and underneath: “All that troubles
is just for a moment.” But over the great central archway leading to the main
aisle is the inscription: “That only is important which is eternal.”
Cuthbert Johnson in ‘Quotes and Anecdotes’
Aware of the opposition that Christians faced and being himself confronted with
opposition as he preaches the gospel, Paul in his second letter writes to the
people in Thessalonica to remain united in love and fellowship. Conscious of
the power of prayer Paul invites his fellow Christians to pray to God with him,
that the Lord who is faithful will keep them faithful to the love of God. He
himself prays for his converts to strengthen them and keep them faithful to
God. “May the Lord through his grace comfort and strengthen you in everything
good that you do and say. May the Lord turn your hearts towards the love of God
and towards fortitude of Christ.”
Pray always
One of the great businessmen was a certain Mr. J. Arthur Rank. He had an
elevator straight to his office but he did not use it. He preferred the stairs
and called them his ‘prayer stairs’. In the morning as he walked up he prayed
asking God to guide him every step that he takes that day. As he takes every
step separately and deliberately, he prays. He finally arrives at the top in
more ways than one…..-We don’t get what we want every time we pick up the
spiritual telephone (in prayer) , any more than we get what we want every time
we pick up the phone in our office. But if we phone J.B. and he says he won’t
sign the contract, we don’t hurl the office phone out of the window. No more
should we throw out our spiritual telephone just we don’t get what we want –or
think we want.
Frank Mihcalic in ‘1000 Stories You Can Use’
In the course of his public ministry Jesus faced a variety of groups and
individuals critical of his beliefs and values. In today’s gospel Jesus is
approached by some Sadducees who question him about the resurrection. Like so
many of us, the Sadducees clung to their own way of thinking which led them to
be religiously conservative, opposing any doctrine that did not fit into their
way of thinking and living. They believed only in the present life, they
enjoyed the present, without any worry or concern about the afterlife and hence
they questioned the resurrection. In today’s gospel they pose a tricky
rabbinical question to Jesus to catch him. They attempt to ridicule the
resurrection of the dead by recalling the Mosaic Law on levirate marriage,
which stated that if a man dies and has no son, and therefore no legal heir,
his brother must marry the widow. In this way the continuity of the family
would be guaranteed. The Sadducees develop their example
to absurdity in instancing seven brothers each of whom marry the same woman,
but each of whom die childless. Jesus in his response elevates the discussion
to give a deeper understanding of the resurrected life. Firstly, he said we
should not look at the afterlife from our human and limited perspective. Life
there is quite different. Secondly, since the Sadducees held only to the Law of
Moses, Jesus returned to that, citing the remarkable incident of Moses
encountering God in the burning bush, where he identifies himself as the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When Moses heard from God, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
were long dead, yet God said “I am the God of these three patriarchs” not “I
was” but “I am!” their God. So Abraham, Isaac and Jacob still lived! So the
creative power of God brings about life after death! The Sadducees became
silent. Jesus had showed them that God was the God of life, and God of the
living, and those who believe live
forever.
God of the living
An old man, an accomplished artist, was applying the finishing touches to a
bronze sculpture. He kept filing and polishing every scraping little surface of
his masterpiece. “When will it be done?” asked an observer. “Never” came the
reply. “I just keep working and working until they come and take it away.” -So
also is life. It is a pilgrimage; it is an ongoing process. The life is blessed
when lived well; it is a gift to be used every day. For what makes life
precious and worth living is not the years we live but the deeds we do. All our
dear departed ones are in the hands of God, they are living persons: living
with God.
Antony Kolencherry in ‘Living the Word’
“Many of our contemporaries no longer believe in the immorality 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 definitive end: they have no hope either of 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. ….The
teaching on the resurrection of the dead, formulated much later than Moses,
seemed to the Sadducees 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 of faith in God, the Living One! The
doctrine of 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
Film –The Day After
When the movie The Day After was shown on television in 1983, it caused quite a
controversy. This was because it was focused on the ultimate what if- the event
of a global nuclear war. What if the population of Kansas City is instantly
reduced to vapourised silhouettes; what if the blistered wounded are doomed to
die; what if some survivors are surrounded by radioactive fallout that settles
like a fine white dust all over the earth? The Day After was intended primarily
to provoke serious reflection and discussion about nuclear disarmament. But it
also provokes questions about our faith. Would a good God allow such a
terrifying evil to happen? Why do we have to die at all? Is there really a
resurrection? –Today’s readings suggest some answers to these questions, not in
the sense of complete explanations, but in the sense of strengthening our faith
in Jesus Christ, the Risen Son of the Living God. We don’t get a satisfying
answer from the Scriptures
to the question, “How can a good God allow such terrible evils like the
slaughter of the seven sons, or the death of the Marines in Lebanon to occur?
But we do get an affirmation of our faith in an afterlife. No matter how
terrifying death may be, whether at the hands of terrorists or nuclear weapons,
life will be restored. No matter how much destruction a nuclear holocaust may
cause, the day after will never be the last day. A new heaven and a new earth
will appear, because our God is a God of the living and not of the dead. With
Christian faith and hope we are strong enough to survive any today, and, if
need be, any day after.
Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds ’
May we believe in God who sustains and nourishes life always!
Fr. Jude Botelho
www.netforlife.net
PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been
collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and
from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever
possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you
could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in
these reflections. These reflections are also available on my web site
www.netforlife.net Thank you.
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