From The Bishop

We have all heard the saying that there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes. 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 (20:27-38), a woman who was married to seven brothers dies and Jesus is asked, “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be?” This question was raised by the Sadducees because they did not believe in the Resurrection. Not being able to resist a bad pun, I believe the fact that they did not believe in eternal life made them “sad you see”. In the First Reading from 2 Maccabees (7:1-2; 9-14), a mother and her seven sons believe that after death “the King of the universe will raise us up to everlasting renewal of life”. 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.” They are not afraid to die for their faith because they believe that after death there is life everlasting. St. Ambrose expresses these 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.” (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.” (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. In his popular book, Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom writes about Dr. Morrie Schwartz. Morrie is terminally ill and acknowledges that we live in a death denying culture, “Everyone knows that they’re going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently…To know you’re going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time…that’s better. 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 life”.