XXXII
SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - CYCLE C - NOVEMBER 6, 2016
- We are approaching the end of the liturgical year, and the Church invites us to reflect on the last events in our earthly life.
- Somehow the question for us today is: how is my faith in the resurrection of the dead?
- Do I really believe that I will be raised up like Jesus was?
- Nobody asks me if I understand the question, they ask me if I believe what I say every Sunday standing among the members of the congregation "I believe in the resurrection of the dead and in the life eternal." Am I conscious of what I am saying or do I just repeat words without any meaning for me?
- Maybe we can move one step further and ask ourselves, do I wait with anticipation, like we await the loved one, the final encounter with our Creator and Redeemer?
SECOND
BOOK OF THE MACCABEES
v The second book of the Maccabees is
not the continuation of the first, some chapters in both books overlap 1Mc 3-7
and 2Mc 8-15 have many similarities. .
v These two books tell us how Israel fell
under the influence of the Hellenistic culture, and how did the people deal with
this situation. Some remained faithful to the traditions and beliefs of their
fathers, others let themselves be assimilated into the new culture that
surrounded them.
v We are talking about a period of
history that reached its highest point in Athens during the V century before
Christ.
v Up to that time Israel had
experienced the influence of the kingdoms from the East that is from the Middle
East. The influence of the Greek culture puts Israel
and other peoples under the influence of the Western culture.
v These two books tell about the
resistance of the faithful of Israel to be assimilated into the Greek culture.
The author reflects on several points of interest for the faith of Israel and
for our faith too. We also live surrounded by a foreign culture different from
the culture of our fathers, and we also experience its influence, which
questions some aspects of our faith. Let us see some of these points:
·
The
sufferings the people experiences are
the consequence of its own behavior, the consequence of the choices each person
has made. God does not inflict the suffering over his people. Either we chose to be with God, or we chose to
be far from God, ignoring his presence in our life.
·
Martyrdom
that is the possibility for the human being to be faithful to the rules and
demands of his or her faith up to the point of giving up his or her own life.
·
Martyrdom
is the consequence of the fidelity and love of God, and the faith in the life
after death.
·
Thus
faith in the resurrection of those who have died in the Lord.
v The books of the Maccabees are among
the "Deuterocanonical books" that is the books which the Catholic
Church considers revealed and which are not accepted by the Jewish faith and by
the other Christian traditions.
FIRST READING: 2
Mc 7:1-2, 9-14
ü This part of the book of the
Maccabees tells us the story of seven brothers and their mother who preferred
to die instead of eating pork, because the law of God forbade it.
ü Maybe we think that it is a nonsense
to die instead of eating pork, because there is nothing wrong about eating
pork, God has made all things right and good.
ü But the point is not to eat or not to
eat pork, but to be faithful to our faith in God. In a word it is about
clinging to God because we love him, and thus for his love we prefer to be
faithful up to the point of giving up our own life, because we do not want to
be separated from him.
ü As one of the psalms says "because your love is better
than life"
ü For us, living in a very pragmatic
culture, it is difficult to put faith first above our wellbeing even our life,
and thus understand the value of martyrdom.
ü One of the young men that is tortured
confesses his faith in the life after death, even more, he confesses his belief
in the resurrection "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."
ü Another one of the young men says
"It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope that God will give life to me again."
ü This reading calls us to look into
our inner being and ask ourselves how is our faith and love for God, do we love
him to the point of being able to give up our life for him? It is certainly
truth that martyrdom is a gift and a call from God, by ourselves we cannot
suffer it, but we can ask ourselves about how is the thermometer of our love.
RESPONSORIAL
PSALM 17:1.5-6.8.15
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.
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.
Keep me as the
apple of your eye
hide me in the shadow of your wings
But I in justice shall behold you face
on walking I shall be content in your presence.
Ø
The author of
this psalm tells his faith and love for God, repeating in some way the theme of
the first reading.
Ø
In his words we
sense a deep trust in the love God has for him.
Ø
His words are
like fire which can help us to light up again the fire under the ashes of our
daily worries and responsibilities.
GOSPEL Lk 20:27-38









SECOND READING 2 Tes 2:16-3,5
v
The author of
this letter asks God to strengthen his readers in every good deed and word
v
He asks them to
pray for him so that
·
the word of God
which he preaches may speed forward and be glorified as it did among them
·
God may protect him
from the evil one.
v
He adds that he is
sure that the word preached among them will continue to be fruitful in
them.
v
He ends this
section of the letter asking God to lead them to the love of God and grant them
the same endurance of Christ.
v
This may also be
our prayer.
POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
AMORIS LAETITIA OF POPE FRANCIS
AMORIS LAETITIA OF POPE FRANCIS
The sacrament of marriage is not a social
convention, an empty ritual or merely the outward sign of a commitment. The sacrament is a gift given for the
sanctification and salvation of the spouses, since “their mutual belonging is a
real representation, through the sacramental sign, of the same relationship
between Christ and the Church. The
married couple are therefore a permanent reminder for the Church of what took
place on the cross; they are for one another and for their children witnesses
of the salvation in which they share through the sacrament”. Marriage is a vocation, inasmuch as it is a
response to a specific call to experience conjugal love as an imperfect sign of
the love between Christ and the Church.
Consequently, the decision to marry and to have a family ought to be the
fruit of a process of vocational discernment. (72)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PAGOLA, José A. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus.
Meditations on the Gospels for Year C.
POPE
FRANCIS, POST-SYNODAL
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION AMORIS LAETITIA
RAVASI,
Gianfranco, Según las Escrituras, Año C.
La Biblia de
Nuestro Pueblo . Luis Alonso Schökel.
The Catholic Study Bible -New American Bible.
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