Living in the Resurrection and Kingdom of God

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

IL-32 Ħadd matul is-Sena

Messalin C pp 438

Reading 1  -  2 Macabees 7:1-2, 9-14

It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured with whips and Scourges by the king, to force them to eat pork in violation of God's law.  One of the brothers, speaking for the others, said: "What do you expect to achieve by questioning us?  We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors." At the point of death he said: "You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever. It is for his laws that we are dying." After him the third suffered their cruel sport. He put out his tongue at once when told to do so, and bravely held out his hands, as he spoke these noble words: "It was from Heaven that I received these; for the sake of his laws I disdain them; from him I hope to receive them again." Even the king and his attendants marveled at the young man's courage, because he regarded his sufferings as nothing. After he had died, they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same way. When he was near death, he said, "It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him; but for you, there will be no resurrection to life." This is the Word of the Lord.

L-1 Lezzjoni - Qari mit-Tieni Ktieb tal-Makkabej 7, 1-2, 9-14

F'dak iż-żmien, qabdu sebat aħwa u 'l ommhom; u s-sultan beda biex jisfurzhom bid-daqqiet tas-swat u u tan-nerv biex jieklu l-laħam tal-majjal li ma jiswiex. Wieħed minnhom beda jitkellem f'isem l-oħrajn u qal: "X'int tfittex tistaqsi u trid taf minna?  Aħna lest mmutu, imma m'aħniex lesti niksru l-liġijiet ta' missirijietna." U t-tieni wieħed, kif kien fl-aħħar nifs, qallu: "Int, bniedem  mill-agħar, int se ċċaħħadna mill-ħajja ta' issa, imma s-sultan tad-dinja għad iqajjimna għall-ħajja ta' dejjem, lilna li se mmutu għal-liġijiet tiegħu." Imbagħad wara dan bdew jittorturaw it-tielet wieħed u malli talbuh ħareġ minnufih ilsienu u bla biża' ta' xejn midd idejh u ta' qalbieni li kien għajjat: "Mis-sema ksibthom ksibthom dawn,  u għal-liġijiet tiegħu jien  nistmerrhom, għax mingħandu nittama li għad nerġa' niksibhom."  Saħansitra s-sultan u dawk ta' madwaru stagħġbu bil-qawwa ta' dan iż-żgħażugħ, kif l-uġiegħ ma kien iqisu xejn.Meta miet dan bdew jittorturaw u jbiċċru r-raba' wieħed  bl-istess mod.   Meta wasal fl-aħħar qal:  "Aħjar li wieħed imut b'idejn il-bnedmin   Meta jkollu t-tama mingħand Alla li għad iqajmu mill-ġdid. Imma għalik m'hemmx qawmien għall-ħajja." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm       -        Psalm 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15

R. (15b) Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Hear, O LORD, a just suit;
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.           R/

My steps have been steadfast in your paths,
my feet have not faltered.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my word.                        R/.

Keep me as the apple of your eye,
hide me in the shadow of your wings.
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking I shall be content in your presence.       R/

Salm Responsorjali   -  Salm 16 (17)

            R/        Meta nqum nithenna bid-dehra tiegħek.

Isma', Mulej, il-kawża ġusta tiegħi,

ilqa' l-għajta tiegħi,

agħti widen għat-talb tiegħi;

bla qerq huma xuffetejja.                                 R/

Il-mixi tiegħi żammejt fi triqatek,

qatt ma għotru riġlejja.

Insejjaħlek, għax int tweġibni, o Alla;

ressaq widintek lejja, isma kliemi.                  R/

Għad-dell ta' ġwenħajk kenninni.

Jien, fil-ħaqq, għad nara 'l wiċċek;

meta nqum, nithenna bid-dehra tiegħek.        R/

Reading 2          -        2 Thessalonians  2:16-3:5

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. Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be glorified, as it did among you, and that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked people, for not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you, you are doing and will continue to do.  May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the endurance of Christ. This is the Word of the Lord.

It-Tieni Lezzjoni   -  Qari mit-Tieni Ittra lit-Tessalonikin 16-17; 3, 1-5         

Ħuti, Sidna Ġesu' Kristu stess u Alla Missierna, li ħabbna u tana l-kuraġġ ta' dejjem u t-tama  sħiħa bil-grazzja, jqawwilkom qalbkom u  jsaħħaħkom f'kull għemil u kelma tajba. Mill-bqija, ħuti, itolbu għalina biex il-kelma tal-Mulej tiġri l-ġirja tagħha u tkun milqugħa bil-ġieħ bħalma ġara fostkom.  Itolbu biex inkunu meħlusa minn nies ħżiena u bla liġi.  Għax mhux kulħadd għandu l-fidi. Iżda l-Mulej hu fidil  hu jwettaqkom u jħariskom mill-Ħażin. Aħna żguri minnkom fil-Mulej, jiġifieri, li intom qegħdin tagħmlu u għad tagħmlu dak li ordnajielkom.  Jalla l-Mulej iwassal lil qlubkom għall-imħabba ta' Alla u s-sabar ta' Kristu. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.

Gospel          -           Luke 20:27-38

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 out '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." This is the Word of the Lord. 

L-Evanġelju - Qari skont San Luqa 20, 27-38

F'dak iż-żmien, resqu fuqu xi wħud mis-sadduċej, dawk li jiċħdu l-qawmien mill-imwiet, u staqsewh: "Mgħallem, Mose' ħallielna miktub: 'Jekk wieħed imutlu ħuħ miżżewweġ u dan ikun bla tfal, dak  ikollu jiżżewweġ l-armla biex inissel ulied lil ħuħ. Issa jkun hemm sebat aħwa, u l-kbir iżżewweġ u  miet bla tfal.    It-tieni wieħed, u mbagħd it-tielet, f'kelma waħda, is-sebgħa li kienu, ħadu l-armla, u mietu bla ma ħallew tfal.  Fl-aħħar mietet il-mara wkoll.  Issa din, fil-qawmien tal-imwiet,mart min minnhom tkun?   Għax is-sebgħa jkunu żżewġuha." Weġibhom Ġesu':  "Il-bnedmin f'din id-dinja jiżżewġu u jżewġu; imma dawk li jkun jistħoqqilhom jgħaddu għad-dinja l-oħra u jqumu mill-imwiet, dawn la jżewġu u lanqas  jiżżewġu.  Għax anqas jistgħu jmutu iżjed, għaliex ikunu  bħall-anġli, u huma wlied Alla ladarba qamu mill-imwiet. U li  l-mejtin iqumu, Mose' wkoll urieh, fir-rakkont tax-xitla tal-għollieq, għax lill-Mulej isejjaħlu Alla ta' Abraħam,  Alla ta' Iżakk, u Alla ta' Ġakobb.  Issa hu mhuwiex Alla tal-mejtin,  iżda tal-ħajjin, għax għalih kulħadd jgħix. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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COMMENTARY:

Life in the Resurrection and the 

Kingdom of God

Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB

Christian faith in the resurrection has met with incomprehension and opposition from the very beginning. On no point does the Christian faith encounter more opposition than on the resurrection of the body.  The question of the resurrection is vital not only to the Christian faith but to all people who reflect on life and death.

No spirit of inquiry

Judaism has never been monolithic, and to say "the Jews believed" is to be misinformed and to misinform. In Sunday's Gospel (Luke 20:27-38) we encounter the Sadducees, one of several groups or parties within Judaism. Sadducees were of the priestly class, many of them aristocratic, wealthy, and theologically conservative. Scripture for them consisted of only the five books of Moses. No teaching was authoritative if it was not found in the Pentateuch, and they found no doctrine of the resurrection in the books of Moses.

These Jerusalem religious leaders or their representatives attempt to incriminate Jesus with the Romans and to discredit him with the people. Their air is to argue, to embarrass, to force Jesus into one particular school of thought, or perhaps just to divide the audience. There is among them no spirit of inquiry or desire to learn. They are simply baiting Jesus with one of their classic "what if" questions, a question on which their minds had been settled long ago: There is no resurrection of the dead (v. 27; Acts 23:8).

Belief in the resurrection

The Pharisees and many of the Lord's contemporaries hoped for the resurrection. They not only included the prophets and the writings in their Scripture but also believed in the authority of the oral tradition from Moses. The basis for belief in the resurrection was found in that oral tradition. The subject was heatedly debated between the two parties of Pharisees and Sadducees, a fact that Paul made use of to draw attention away from himself during his trial before the Jewish Council (Acts 23:6-10).

The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. Their question in Sunday's Gospel, based on the law of levirate marriage recorded in Deuteronomy 25:5-10, details the duty of a man toward a deceased brother. The Sadducees ridicule the idea of the resurrection. Jesus rejects their naïve understanding of the resurrection (vv. 35-36) and then argues on behalf of the resurrection of the dead on the basis of the written law (vv. 37-38) that the Sadducees accept.

Jesus' answer is twofold. The first part (vv. 34-36) simply points out the inappropriateness of the question, given the difference between life in this age and the age to come. In this age, the fact of death makes marriage and perpetuation of life essential. However, in the age to come there is no death, but those who attain to the resurrection are equal to the angels, they are children of God.

In the second part of his answer, Jesus draws on the Sadducees' own Bible, the book of Moses (vv. 37-40). Jesus answers them with Exodus 3:6: God is a God of the living and not of the dead. It follows then, says Jesus, that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are living, not dead.

The two parts of Jesus' answer to the Sadducees constitute an argument from reason (condition of this life do not constitute proof of conditions in the next) and Scripture (Exodus 3:6) for the belief in the resurrection of the dead. In this belief Jesus was in agreement with the Pharisees. The argumentation has to do with the resurrection of Jesus, not with a doctrine of resurrection in general.

Acquaintance and true knowledge

In Jesus time, The Pharisees and the Sadducees were externally acquainted with Jesus, they learned his teaching and knew many details about him but they did not know him in his truth.  The members of these groups or parties know him, but superficially; they know various things about him, but they do not really know him.

On the other hand, the Twelve Apostles have at least understood in substance and begun to discover who Jesus is. This different manner of knowing still exists today: There are learned people who know many details about Jesus and never get to really know and love him. Many such people have even studied theology! There are also many simple, unlearned people who have no knowledge of these details but have known him in the fullness of his truth and beauty.

Marriage has as its natural end the procreation of children, it assures the continuance of the human race and the creation of new beings, since human beings are destined to die and need to leave successors. How many times did Pope John Paul II tell us, "The future of humanity passes through the family"?

A prayer for us this week

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 our hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word. Our Lord is faithful; he will strengthen us and guard us from the evil one. May he direct our hearts to the love of God and to the endurance of Christ (Thessalonians 2:16-3:5)

Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full. Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings. But I in justice shall behold your face; on waking I shall be content in your presence. (Psalm 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15)

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