32ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14

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

2 Thessalonians 2:16–3:5

Luke 20:27-38 

HOPE IN THE RESURRECTION

The main theme of today’s readings is the resurrection of the dead. In the Gospel, the Sadducees present Jesus with a difficult scenario in order to trap Him and reduce the belief in the resurrection to absurdity. But in his reply, Jesus indicates clearly that life after death is not the continuation of life on earth, but its complete transformation by the living God. In the life after death, the children of the resurrection neither marry nor are given in marriage because they become like angels. Therefore, Jesus affirms that there is life after death because “God is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive”. 

As such, the fundamental question to ask is not whether there is life after death or not, but rather what can we do in order to be deemed worthy of the resurrection of the dead. In this way, the hope in the resurrection becomes a source of inspiration and encouragement so as to bear witness to our faith and remain faithful to the end no matter what. This is what we see in the martyrdom of the seven brothers and their mother narrated in the first reading. We discover in the brave words of these Jewish martyrs the hope that God will restore the just to life. 

Indeed, listening to this story, one may ask: what is wrong with eating a little pork if this serves to save one’s live? In fact, there was much more at stake than “pork meat”. The choice was not between eating and not eating pork prohibited by Law (Lev. 11:7-8). It was about remaining faithful to God or obeying the command of Antiochus IV (167-164 B.C.). The seven brothers and their mother chose to die rather than apostatizing like many of their contemporaries. They endured torture and cruelty because they believed that God would raise them to life again.

In our days, the “pork meat” has taken different names: power, popularity, sex, money, job, promotion, etc. And many are those who compromise their Christian identity and virtues in the face of these things. Consequently, like St Paul in the second reading, let us ask God to deliver us from perverse, faithless and wicked people, and guard us from the evil one. May he give us courage like the Maccabees brothers so as to live for him and inherit eternal life. Amen