From The Bishop

The Readings for the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time focus on the reality of death, together with the certainty of the Resurrection. In the Gospel of St. Luke, we find the Sadducees asking Jesus a question about a woman who was married to seven brothers (of course not all at the same time). Following the Mosaic Law, as each brother experienced an untimely death, the next brother was obliged to marry his brother’s widow. They wanted to know what happens when the woman dies. They ask, “In the resurrection, whose wife will the woman be?â€� The Sadducees asked this question because they did not believe in the Resurrection and that is why they were ‘sad â€" you â€"see’ (bad pun). Their intent was to try and trap Jesus with their question. In the First Reading from 2 Maccabees, a mother and her seven sons believe that after death “the King of the universe will raise us up to everlasting renewal of lifeâ€�. Each son is put to death and responds with great courage and faith. The fourth brother to die summed up the feelings of all of the brothers, “One cannot but choose to die at the hands of humans and to cherish the hope God gives of being raised by him.â€� They are not afraid to die for their faith because they believe that after death there is life everlasting. St. Ambrose expresses the same sentiments when he states, “Death is then no cause for mourning, for it is the cause of mankind’s salvation. Death is not something to be avoided, for the Son of God did not think it beneath his dignity, nor did he seek to escape it.â€� (From a book on the death of his brother Satyrus). It is the Resurrection of Jesus that gives meaning to death. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “What is ‘rising’? In death, the separation of the soul from the body, the human body decays and the soul goes to meet God, while awaiting its reunion with its glorified body. God, in His almighty power, will definitively grant incorruptible life to our bodies by reuniting them with our souls, through the power of Jesus’ Resurrection.â€� (CCC 997) In today’s culture, it is easy to believe that death is something to be avoided by never thinking about it or speaking about it. Today’s Readings remind us to consider our own mortality with hope because “the King of the universe will raise us up to everlasting renewal of lifeâ€�.