Blessed Virgin Mary / St. Clement Ⅰ,

pope & martyr  /  St. Columban, abbot  /  Bl. Miguel Augustin Pro, priest  & martyr 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

 1 Maccabees 6: 1-13

 When King Antiochus was making his way through the upper regions of Persia,

he received news about Elymais, a city renowned for its wealth in silver and gold. They kept in the wealthy temple of their city golden armor, breastplates and weapons left there by the Mace­­donian king, Alexander the son of Philip, the first sovereign of the Greeks. 

So Antiochus went there but the inhabitants came out armed against him when they learned of his intention, so his attempt to take the city failed. He had to turn back, and he returned much embittered to Babylon.

While he was still in Persia, it was reported to him that the armies sent to Judea had been defeated. They told him that although Lysias had gone with a strong army, he had to flee before the Jews who had been strengthened with the weapons and the abundant booty taken from the neighboring armies.

 He heard too that the Jews had destroyed the abominable idol he had erected on the altar in Jerusalem, and had rebuilt the temple walls to the same height as before, and had also fortified the city of Beth-zur.

 When he received this news, he was terrified and deeply upset. He fell sick and became greatly depressed because things had not turned out the way he had plan­ned. So he remained overcome by this terrible anguish for many days.

He felt that he was dying, so he called his friends and said to them, “Sleep has fled from my eyes and I am greatly crushed by my anxieties.  And I keep on asking why such grief has come upon me – I who was generous and well-loved when in power – and now I am so discouraged.

 Now I remember the evils I did in Jerusalem, the vessels of gold and silver that I stole, the inhabitants of Judea I ordered to be killed for no reason at all. I now know that because of this, these misfortunes have come upon me, and I am dying of grief in a strange land.”

 

Ps 9  i will rejoice in your salvation, O Lord.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke  20: 27-40

  Then some Sadducees arrived. These peo­ple claim that there is no resurrection  and they asked Jesus this question, “Master, in the law Moses told us: ‘If anyone dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother must take the wife, and any child born to them will be regarded as the child of the de­ceased.’

 Now, there were seven brothers; the first married but died without children; The second  married the woman, but also died childless. And then the third married her, and in this same way all seven died, leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. On the day of the resurrection, to which of them will the woman be a wife? For all seven had her as a wife.”

 And Jesus replied, “Taking husband or wife is proper to people of this world,   but for those who are considered worthy of the world to come and of resurrection from the dead, there is no more marriage.   Besides, they cannot die for they are like the angels. They are sons and daughters of God because they are born of the resurrection.

Yes, the dead will be raised, as Moses revea;ed at the burning bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, and the  God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.  For God is God of the  living and not of the dead, for to him everyone is alive.”

Some teachers of the Law then agreed with Jesus, “Master, you have spoken well.”   They didn’t dare to ask him anything else.

 

Gospel Reflection：

“GOD OF THE LIVING, AND NOT OF THE DEAD, FOR TO HIM EVERYONE IS ALIVE.”

The Sadducees represent one of the two prominent factions in the time of Jesus. The other one is the group known as the Pharisees. While they share religious fervor and adherence to the Jewish faith, they differ in doctrinal matters.

The Sadducees believed only in the things found in the writings of Moses, namely, the Torah. The Pharisees on the other hand believed in the Torah and other beliefs coming from oral tradition, which includes faith in the resurrection and the angels. In the gospel, the inquiring Sadducees must have felt scorned by the response of Jesus: there is a resurrection and angels exist.

The resurrection is the firm assurance of our hope in the life to come. Many of us are scared of “passing away” because it seems to point to vanishing and disappearance. But the God of life, Jesus, consistently points to our “passing on “ from this life to the next.

Of course it’s not a continuation of earthly life(e.g. those who are married here will not be husbands and wives there) but a new and fuller life. Jesus affirms the existence of an gels, too. We will be like angels, with life not threatened by death anymore. But will not become angels .  完