We focus this week on resurrection, life AFTER death.  This was a belief that the Hebrews of the old testament came to gradually and the first mention of life after death occurred about 150 years before the birth of Christ when it surfaces in the book of Daniel and then in the book of Maccabees.  However as the Gospel points out, Moses referred to life after earthly death when he called God “The God of Abraham…Isaac…Jacob.” and this is the crux of the whole idea of the resurrection:  God is the GOD of LIVING PEOPLE, not of dead people.

Our first reading this week is from the book of Maccabees and recounts a story of brothers who were tortured and beaten in an effort to cause them to deny their religious faith before they were killed because they would not.  Not only do they endure the horrible pain, injury and humiliation they appear to do so gladly in the name of their faith, which is their belief that God will raise them from the dead.  The fourth brother, before he died, said, “It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by Him,…”  Even before Christ the understanding that we will always be alive with God even beyond this human fleshly world existed.

In the Gospel the Sadducees (SAD-yoo-seez) have come up with what they think is the perfect argument to show the ridiculous nature of a belief in life after death.  The Sadducees, unlike the Pharisees, did not believe in the resurrection.  They want to discredit Jesus in front of a crowd of people and so their tone is sincere when they relate a tale of a childless widow successively married by seven brothers who each die in turn and finally the woman dies and they want to know, and don’t we all, to whom she will be married in heaven since she was married to each in accordance with the Jewish law.  This is a question that they are sure will trump Jesus, whom they are always trying to set traps for, but Jesus eloquently illustrates the truth about the resurrection telling them, “Eternal life is not like life here.  In heaven people don’t get married…People who are worthy to live forever will be like angels.  They will be true children of God and will never die anymore.”

Our destiny is not to be human it is to be like the angels.  We are meant for a much higher purpose, not unlike how we began with Adam and Eve who walked with God in the beginning.  We were created to live in the presence of God and were it not for the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden we would have always dwelt there and walked with God as Adam and Eve once did.  So now our goal is to return to what we are meant to be, heavenly creations of our God and Father.  Our sin is what separates us from God and Jesus is the way back to God because he paid the ransom, the price, for all our sins once and for all time.  So after life in these earthly bodies and in this earthly world we can look forward to eternal life with God in heaven. 

Those men we read about in Maccabees could suffer such cruelty and pain and death because they KNEW there was a new LIFE with God awaiting them.  Dwell on that suffering and that knowledge that enabled them to die with the confidence of resurrection to new life.  It’s huge and it happened before Christ Jesus was born!  Jesus points out to the Sadducees that God is the God of the LIVING, not the dead, which is why He IS, not “was”, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  EVERYONE is ALIVE for God and we can find comfort in that when we lose loved ones in our lives.  They are not “dead” they are “alive” with/for God!  Their earthly flesh is no more…their heavenly bodies are brand new and eternal.  Wow!  I just smiled thinking of my parents who have died because it makes me happy that they are already enjoying the life they were always meant to live, like angels, with God! 

The Psalm this week is Psalm 17: Lord When Your Glory Appears

We only have a couple more weeks of Ordinary Time before we enter the season of Advent (First Sunday of Advent is 12/01/13!)  Start now to plan how you will experience the Advent season with your family.  An Advent wreath?  Charitable “gifts” for the poor?  Loneliness, hunger and cold are felt so much more sharply during the Christmas season by those who have no one or nothing to stave off the cold, hunger and loneliness.  Make it part of your family Christmas to give to the poor and spread some Christmas cheer!  Focus your daily prayers on those who need Gods comfort, strength and grace in their lives.