(Chapter 7:1-2, 9-14)
We Christians believe not only in the resurrection of Jesus but also in our own resurrection. At the time of Jesus, the Jews were divided about the resurrection of the body on the last day. The Sadducees did not believe in it, but the Pharisees did. This story about the brave Maccabee brothers is one of only two places in which the Hebrew Scriptures
allude to resurrection.
As the first brother is being tortured, just before his death, he says, “You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life, but the king of this world will raise us up to live again forever.” When the last brother is near death, he says, “It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him.”
This was one of the first answers to the eternal question, “What happens to us when we die?” Today, there are only two choices: nothingness, obliteration, or resurrection, new life forever with Christ. I know what I believe. How about you?
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15)
“Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.” This wish of the Psalmist was fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus. But, that is only the first step. The final step will be our own resurrection to live forever in the presence of God.
A reading from second Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians
(Chapter 2:16-3:5)
Paul wrote this letter at a time of severe persecution of the young Church, and he wanted to reassure the faithful. “Brothers and sisters: may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word….But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.”
Imagine yourself as a new Christian living in fear that you might be caught, tortured, and murdered like the Maccabee brothers. There are no local officers or army to protect you. In fact, they are the very people who will arrest you. You have only your loving community and your faith to protect you. We have these same persecuted people to thank for passing on their faith to us over thousands of years.
Let us pray for the millions of our brothers and sisters in the faith who suffer and die every day all over the world for this same faith.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
(Chapter 20:27-38)
In this gospel reading, “some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a Resurrection” try to trap Jesus with a complicated question about marriage in the resurrected state. Jesus responds with a strong statement about the dead. “They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones that will arise….He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
The message of Jesus to us today is simple yet amazing. Yes, we will all die, but we will also rise and live forever in unity with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Do you believe this? Have you even thought much about it? Here is a clue. Our life with God has already started, because the very Spirit of God lives within us. Yes, the Holy Spirit lives in you and is your constant companion in your journey into the Mystery of God’s unconditional and everlasting love.
Excerpts from the English translation of the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved.
Bill Ayres was a founder, with the late singer Harry Chapin, of WhyHunger. He has been a radio and TV broadcaster for 40 years and has two weekly Sunday-night shows on WPLJ, 95.5 FM in New York. He is a member of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Centerport, New York.