Homily for Saturday 24 November 2018
_“But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him.” *Luke 20:37-38*_
Both our first reading from the book of Revelation and our Gospel passage today have one theme in common: the resurrection of the dead. In our first reading, we come across the story of two prophets who were very great in their prophesying but after they had finished their testimony, they were killed by the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit. Their death brought rejoicing upon the inhabitants of the earth (who were referred to as Sodom and Egypt) because their preaching brought a lot of torment to them.
After three and a half day, “a breath of life from God entered them and they stood up on their feet and great fear fell upon those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘come up here!’ And in the sight of their foes, they went up to heaven in a cloud.” Revelations 4:12.
In our Gospel passage, some Sadducees tried to disprove the possibility of the dead rising again by bringing to Jesus a well thought out probable scenario. Their story only showed their lack of understanding of what becomes of humans when they rise from the dead. Jesus explains to them that the resurrected life is not the same as earthly life in that there is no return to the normal everyday activities as we have it now. There is no such thing as marriage or child-bearing in our resurrected form.
Jesus ended by saying that God is not a God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him. This statement of Jesus should affect our conception and understanding of death. If nothing, it should cushion our fear of death and soften our pain at the news of the death of a loved one. Death is not the end; it is only the beginning of true life; another kind of life; a life that does not involve marriage; a life free from all the stress and worries and troubles we face every day; a life we must look forward to. No matter how painful the death of a loved one may be, let us never forget that their death is not the end; that there is the resurrection of the dead; that one day, we shall again be united to them.
In our first reading, it is quite touching that at the death of the two prophets, there was great rejoicing by the inhabitants of the earth. This is a figurative way of describing how much people prefer darkness to light. From time immemorial, those who stand for truth and righteousness have always been hated by the majority of the human population; those who speak the truth and walk in the light of God have always been hunted. Evil sells more than good. This book of Revelation was written to console the Christians who were suffering persecution at the time. John aims to teach them that death should not frighten them or make them back out of their Christian belief because there was something great awaiting them afterwards: the resurrection of the dead.
Dear friends, trials and persecutions would come but we must remain steadfast. To the earthly minded, the worst thing that can happen to a person is to die but for us who believe in God, we know that death is just a doorway. As God’s children, we know that the worst thing that can happen to a person is to be separated from God forever. A life without God is just a dress-rehearsal for hellfire. This should scare us more than mere physical death.
Coincidentally, today the colour of vestment is red. Why? Today we remember persons who like these two prophets shed their blood for the sake of preaching the Gospel in accordance with the mandate of Jesus to “Go in the whole world and preach.” We remember, St. Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions who were killed in Vietnam while spreading the Christian Faith. May our remembrance of them today strengthen our resolve to stand for Christ even when such requires our blood. Amen.
Let us Pray: Lord Jesus give me the courage to remain steadfast in my relationship with you regardless of whatever pain and suffering I encounter. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Saturday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Revelation 11:4-12 Psalm 144:1-2.9-10 and Luke 20:27-40).
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