32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Life has changed not ended”
“Life has changed not ended”
2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14
Psalm: 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15
2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5
Luke 20:27-38
Biology
One of my favourite subjects when in highschool was Biology, the “science of life” or a “study of life.” Unlike Mathematics which is merely about numbers, formulas and computations, in Biology all you need to do is to observe how living things or organisms grow and develop. You just examine the structure of the species (plants, insects or animals) and observe how they interact with each other in their environment. Unlike all other subjects there was always a “wow moment” in Biology. You always discover something wonderful about life most especially those microscopic organisms.
Although science can be exciting as can be biology does not give us all the answer about life. Biology cannot give us answer to questions like, why you and I are born, what is our purpose in life, what is our mission in life, why do things happen, and most of all what is the meaning of life.
Life's purpose
The readings today are not about science of life but its about the Christian concept of life after death. It is this gift of life, both present and eternal, which comes to the theme of today’s readings. Death is the opposite of life; it entails the cold and rigid corpse, the decay, the stench. The image of death often scares us “to death” because death is always associated with pain, separation, end of our dreams.
For us Christian, although death brings us tears it always has a positive side. Death is a passage leading to something entirely wonderful. Death leads us to the door of heaven, to immortality, to eternal life with the God of life. All this is summed up in the word “resurrection.”
Our Christian belief in eternal life, in Resurrection, gives us answer that Biology cannot answer “why you and I were born, what is our purpose.” We are born because God loves us. Life is precious because life is God’s gift to us. Our purpose in life to live life to its fullness; thus we must celebrate every moment of our life.
St. Ireneaus says, “the glory of God as the human person fully alive.” When we are at best we give glory to God. We appreciate God’s given gift. The gift of life is God’s an expression of God’s love to us. Natural death will not stop us to receive that God’s gift of life. Even when we die on earth we will still enjoy “life” in heaven.
In the Gospel Jesus rebuts the Sadducees who were skeptical about the after life. They found no basis for a doctrine of resurrection in the "books of Moses," the only scriptures they recognized as authoritative. They asked him question about an old Jewish tale - a story about seven husbands who died in succession shortly after marrying the same bride. The Sadducees asked Jesus which one of them would be married to the widow in the afterlife. Rather than seeking information, they were trying to trap Jesus.
Jesus explains that, in heaven, we will all be "like angels." They can be no marriage afterlife because raising new children will be not needed because there is no death. Jesus is really telling them to let God the Father take care of heavenly problems.
Here on earth, our task is to recognise gift of life to everyone, to respect each other, to cherish each other, to give value to life.
Because we believe in the Resurrection our love to each other doesn’t stop even when our loved ones died. This why during the month of November we remember in a special way our departed loved ones and all faithful departed, the war veterans, those who died in natural calamity. We recognise and honour their good deeds, their sacrifices, their dignity, their sense of self-worth, their sense of humour even – because they cannot die. They are alive, very much alive not only in our beliefs but they are alive in our hearts and prayers.
I would like to end by reading a short incident told by William J. Bausch
“An unknown women in Ravensbruck concentration camp wrote this life prayer and pinned it to the dead body of a little girl there. “O Lord’, she wrote, ‘remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the sufferings they have inflicted on us. Remember rather the fruits we have bought, thanks to this suffering: our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, our courage, our generosity; the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this. And when they come to judgment, let all the fruits which we have borne be their forgiveness.”
As we remember our departed loved ones in our prayers, let us also pray for ourselves that our faith in eternal life will triumph in us, in the church and in the world, so that we always live our best and always be “alive and holy in the eyes of God, who is the God of the living.”
For us Christian, although death brings us tears it always has a positive side. Death is a passage leading to something entirely wonderful. Death leads us to the door of heaven, to immortality, to eternal life with the God of life. All this is summed up in the word “resurrection.”
Our Christian belief in eternal life, in Resurrection, gives us answer that Biology cannot answer “why you and I were born, what is our purpose.” We are born because God loves us. Life is precious because life is God’s gift to us. Our purpose in life to live life to its fullness; thus we must celebrate every moment of our life.
St. Ireneaus says, “the glory of God as the human person fully alive.” When we are at best we give glory to God. We appreciate God’s given gift. The gift of life is God’s an expression of God’s love to us. Natural death will not stop us to receive that God’s gift of life. Even when we die on earth we will still enjoy “life” in heaven.
In the Gospel Jesus rebuts the Sadducees who were skeptical about the after life. They found no basis for a doctrine of resurrection in the "books of Moses," the only scriptures they recognized as authoritative. They asked him question about an old Jewish tale - a story about seven husbands who died in succession shortly after marrying the same bride. The Sadducees asked Jesus which one of them would be married to the widow in the afterlife. Rather than seeking information, they were trying to trap Jesus.
Jesus explains that, in heaven, we will all be "like angels." They can be no marriage afterlife because raising new children will be not needed because there is no death. Jesus is really telling them to let God the Father take care of heavenly problems.
Here on earth, our task is to recognise gift of life to everyone, to respect each other, to cherish each other, to give value to life.
Because we believe in the Resurrection our love to each other doesn’t stop even when our loved ones died. This why during the month of November we remember in a special way our departed loved ones and all faithful departed, the war veterans, those who died in natural calamity. We recognise and honour their good deeds, their sacrifices, their dignity, their sense of self-worth, their sense of humour even – because they cannot die. They are alive, very much alive not only in our beliefs but they are alive in our hearts and prayers.
I would like to end by reading a short incident told by William J. Bausch
“An unknown women in Ravensbruck concentration camp wrote this life prayer and pinned it to the dead body of a little girl there. “O Lord’, she wrote, ‘remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the sufferings they have inflicted on us. Remember rather the fruits we have bought, thanks to this suffering: our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, our courage, our generosity; the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this. And when they come to judgment, let all the fruits which we have borne be their forgiveness.”
As we remember our departed loved ones in our prayers, let us also pray for ourselves that our faith in eternal life will triumph in us, in the church and in the world, so that we always live our best and always be “alive and holy in the eyes of God, who is the God of the living.”
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source Fr Tony's homily
