Gospel: November 25, 2023
(Saturday) 33rd Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 1 / (Green/Red/White)Blessed Virgin Mary / St. Catherine of Alexandria, virgin & martyr
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 92: 2-3, 4 & 6, 16 & 19
I will rejoice in your salvation, O Lord.
1st Reading: 1 Maccabees 6: 1-13When 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.”Gospel: Luke 20: 27-40Then some Sadducees arrived. These people claim that there is no resurrection and they asked Jesus this question, “Master, in the Scripture Moses told us: ‘If anyone dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother must take the wife, and the child to be born will be regarded as the child of the deceased man.’ Now, there were seven brothers; the first married a wife, but he died without children; and the second and the third took the wife; in fact 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 wife? For the seven had her as 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 too are sons and daughters of God because they are born of the resurrection.Yes, the dead will be raised, and even Moses implied it in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For he is God of the living and not of the dead, and for him all are alive.” Some teachers of the Law then agreed with Jesus, “Master, you have spoken well.” They didn’t dare to ask him anything else.Reflection:“The legacy that we leave is a legacy of faith.”
Most people hope to leave a legacy so that they will be remembered when their earthly life has ended. In the first reading, King Antiochus despairs because the legacy he has planned was destroyed as his kingdom collapsed. The Sadducees test Jesus with a question about levirate marriage, a Jewish custom outlined in the Torah that made sure that men who died childless would still have heirs and leave a legacy.
The legacy that we leave is a legacy of faith. We share the Good News that we have received from the Lord. We help people encounter Jesus and accompany them as they grow in their relationship with him. We leave as our legacy our lives of loving service, using our time, treasure, and talent to help our vulnerable brothers and sisters. The acts of love rendered in faith that we leave behind us are the greatest legacy we could leave because they honor the God of the living.
