Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missal November-December 2022

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
4th week of the four-week Psalter

FIRST READING

From the Second Book of Maccabees (2 Mac 7:1-2, 9-14)
It happened that seven brothers were arrested together with their mother and forced by the king, under torture with whips and scourges, to eat pork, forbidden by the law. One of them, speaking on behalf of all, said: “What do you expect to find out from us? We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.” [And the second,] at the point of death, said: “You accursed man, you dismiss us from this present life, but the King of the universe will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life, because we have died for his laws.” After him, the third was tortured. When requested to do so, he promptly put out his tongue and courageously stretched out his hands, saying: “From Heaven 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 were amazed 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 yet rely on God’s promise that I shall be raised up by him; but for you there will be no resurrection, no life.” – The word of the Lord.

Reflection on the First Reading

The real issue is not the pork, which was forbidden in any case, but rather whom obedience was owed to. In the episode narrated to us today, the king claims to place himself above God’s law and even in opposition to it. What lies behind this king’s behavior is the will to power and perhaps also contempt for the ancient traditions of his ancestors. We might think that, after all, what was being demanded of these seven brothers was not so important: violating a simple dietary rule rather than an important commandment. Yet one day Jesus would say that whoever cannot be faithful in small matters will not be faithful in great ones either. Life, including the life of faith, is made up of small daily choices, but these are where fidelity to the covenant is expressed. In the kingdom of God, rules and commandments are not important in themselves, but for what they convey. They matter because they reveal what truly lies close to our hearts. The seven brothers and their mother testified with their lives that God comes first and that the life that seemed lost would be given back to them.

SECOND READING

From the Second Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians (2 Thes 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 spread rapidly and be glorified, as it is among you, and that we may be delivered from corrupt 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 in the Lord about you that you are doing and will continue to do what we instruct. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the endurance of Christ. – The word of the Lord.

Reflection on the Second Reading

Letters attributed to Paul began circulating in the community of Thessalonica. These writings spoke of the imminent parousia, that is, the imminent return of Christ. This feverish expectation had led people to adopt behavior inconsistent with the Apostle’s teaching and threatened to undermine true faith in the Lord Jesus. Paul calls the members of the community to continue conducting themselves in a worthy manner and to remain faithful to their daily commitments. It is in everyday life that the struggle between good and evil takes place, and in this struggle Christians cannot choose to remain neutral. The kingdom of God is not awaited while sitting around idly and staring at the sky. The kingdom of God is built day by day by living through the effort of love and placing fraternity above every other interest. This letter is very relevant for us too, since we are often tempted to live in separate compartments, taking refuge in a faith consisting only of waiting, inward-looking and ultimately sterile. Those who have received the proclamation of the Kingdom cannot help but work for its building.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Luke (Lk 20:27-38)
At that time, some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, approached Jesus and asked him this question: “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If someone’s brother who has a wife dies childless, 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 similarly all seven died without leaving children. Finally, the woman also died. Now at the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For all seven had been married to her.” Jesus said to them: [“The children of this world take wives and husbands; but those who are judged worthy of a place in the world to come and of resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are children of God because they are children of the resurrection. That the dead are raised, Moses himself revealed in the passage about the bush, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is God not of the dead but of the living, because to him all are alive.” – The Gospel of the Lord.

Reflection on the Gospel of the Day

The Jewish religious world was not monolithic. Within it were many different perspectives: Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Essenes. Each group had a particular sensitivity, and each emphasized certain aspects of the one faith. The problem arose when people absolutized their own position. The Sadducees were the group who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. This should not surprise us, especially when we consider that even many who call themselves Christians and have been baptized cannot hide their indifference to the proclamation of the resurrection, revealed by an ironic snicker. How often do we too think that we need to keep God on our side in order to ensure a life that is as peaceful and comfortable as possible? Today, some members of this group approach Jesus to pose what they claim is a difficult and insidious question. They want to see what clever way Jesus will use to escape the impasse in which they are certain they have trapped him. Jesus takes the discussion to another level. Everything the children of this world do serves to provide some experience of love. In the Kingdom, this love will be complete. Lesser loves are not enough.