20-second Summary
“He is not God of the dead, but of the living!” Our witness to God’s life in us is what sets us apart, it is what makes us a target, and also a magnet. The life we live on earth either takes us closer to God or further from Him. Choices we make now have eternal consequences. This week, let us learn from the witnesses who went before us – the saints – how to witness to others and live the life God created us to live!
Catechesis At Home – Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
God of the Living
First Reading
It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested
and tortured with whips and scourges by the king,
to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law.
One of the brothers, speaking for the others, said:
“What do you expect to achieve by questioning us?
We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.”
At the point of death he said:
“You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life,
but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever.
It is for his laws that we are dying.”
After him the third suffered their cruel sport.
He put out his tongue at once when told to do so,
and bravely held out his hands, as he spoke these noble words:
“It was from Heaven that I received these;
for the sake of his laws I disdain them;
from him I hope to receive them again.”
Even the king and his attendants marveled at the young man’s courage,
because he regarded his sufferings as nothing.
After he had died,
they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same way.
When he was near death, he said,
“It is my choice to die at the hands of men
with the hope God gives of being raised up by him;
but for you, there will be no resurrection to life.”
Responsorial Psalm
Hear, O LORD, a just suit;
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
My steps have been steadfast in your paths,
my feet have not faltered.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my word.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Keep me as the apple of your eye,
hide me in the shadow of your wings.
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking I shall be content in your presence.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Second Reading
Brothers and sisters:
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,
who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement
and good hope through his grace,
encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed
and word.
Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us,
so that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be glorified,
as it did among you,
and that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked people,
for not all have faith.
But the Lord is faithful;
he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you,
you are doing and will continue to do.
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God
and to the endurance of Christ.
Gospel Reading
Alleluia
Jesus Christ is the firstborn of the dead;
to him be glory and power, forever and ever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying,
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us,
If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife
and raise up descendants for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers;
the first married a woman but died childless.
Then the second and the third married her,
and likewise all the seven died childless.
Finally the woman also died.
Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?
For all seven had been married to her.”
Jesus said to them,
“The children of this age marry and remarry;
but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age
and to the resurrection of the dead
neither marry nor are given in marriage.
They can no longer die,
for they are like angels;
and they are the children of God
because they are the ones who will rise.
That the dead will rise
even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
when he called out ‘Lord, ‘
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
for to him all are alive.”
Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,
came forward.
Jesus said to them,
“The children of this age marry and remarry;
but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age
and to the resurrection of the dead
neither marry nor are given in marriage.
They can no longer die,
for they are like angels;
and they are the children of God
because they are the ones who will rise.
That the dead will rise
even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
when he called out ‘Lord, ‘
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
for to him all are alive.”
Mass Readings are presented verbatim from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) web site in good faith accordance with its “Web and Other Digital Media Usage” guidelines. All Rights are reserved to the USCCB.
God of the Living
REFLECTION – Resurrection and Heaven
We enter the last weeks of the Liturgical Year and the focus turns to the end – our end. What does it mean to die in Christ Jesus? It means that we will live forever with Him in heaven. We are made for the Resurrection. Our souls are made to live forever. Our bodies will be raised again at the end of time, when Jesus comes again. These truths are brought to focus in this week’s readings.
The brothers in the first reading are martyrs of the Old Testament – they died in the hope of the resurrection – and they didn’t even have the knowledge or understanding that we do in the actions of Jesus! They died for a promise. They believed that the Messiah WOULD come. They believed in God’s promise of salvation (see Genesis 3:15).
We have the benefit and blessing of living AFTER the Messiah completed His saving work by dying for us and rising again. We, along with St. Paul, can be confident in our salvation through Christ Jesus. Jesus is challenged by the Sadducees in this week’s Gospel. They are curious about His teaching on the Resurrection. Jesus answers quite plainly. After death, there is no need of earthly relationships, because we are perfected in the relationship we have with God – our focus is completely on Him – there is nothing else needed. Our identity is in belonging wholly to God.
He is God of the living – that’s us. We pray for the Holy Spirit to be alive in us so that we may live in Him. Because those who live in Him on earth, will be blessed to live eternally in His Presence. Strive to live now as His children – the sons and daughters we are called to be, so we may receive the eternal reward that Jesus has made possible.
DISCUSSION – Am I Willing?
The first reading gives account of 3 brothers who were martyred for their faith. Discuss this week what it means to be a martyr (which means “witness”) – to die to self and this world, and to live only for God.
Some people physically lose their lives because they live this way. Most of us are only martyrs in the sense that we live counter to the secular culture – we live for God, not ourselves. How do you live for God? How do you sacrifice the things you want to do and have, so that you can witness to God’s love and grace in your life? Are we willing to do the hard things, because we believe in God and Christ is our Lord and Savior?
ACTIVITY – Living Witnesses
Saints are living witnesses to the Truth of salvation in Christ Jesus. This week pull out all the holy cards and saints’ books you have. And if you don’t have any, look up some saints online (try SaintOfTheDay.org). Everyone choose a saint to read about and then at dinner have a show and tell about your saints. See how many new saints you can learn to emulate!
DIG DEEPER – Other God of the Living resources from Holy Owned and Operated:
Page: Prayer Basics
TWMWU: Words Matter
TWMWU: We Believe in the Resurrection
TWMWU: When the Saints Go Marching In
TWMWU: Divine Mercy Sunday – Witness and Bear Fruit
TWMWU: Jesus Died For Us
Podcast: All Souls Day – Episode 119
Podcast: All Saints’ Day – Episode 118
Podcast: The Prodigal Son – Episode 88
How do you witness to the God of the Living?
by Beth & Kristofer Cowles
HOO™ Co-Founders
Other Help on HOO
Being On The Road To Perfection – Episode 166
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:32 — 22.6MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | Blubrry | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS | More Subscribe Options
We are called to be perfect, as we discussed last week.
So, what does being on the road to perfection look like?
If Jesus was “finished” and his ministry was “completed,” as it means when He said, “It is done,” by saying, “It is perfected” just before He died on the Cross, He must have walked a road to perfection.
And so must we.
In this episode we discuss that concept, in terms of what we are doing and how we respond to the call for our life.
It’s a simple concept, and a difficult task, but we have the example of Our Lord which, from the proper perspective, is not an impossible example to follow and exemplify.
0 Comments