Luke 20:27-38 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time November 6, 2022 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.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14
2 Thessalonians 2:16-3, 5
Luke 20:27-38

A. Text/Context
• The gospel tells us of a group known as the Sadducees
• The Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection because they do not believe also in the immortality of a human being and so they do not believe also in the existence of immortal beings like angels
• These people also helped in the condemnation of Jesus to death. In fact, the question and answer portion of the gospel is actually meant to trap Jesus how clever or how intelligent will his answer be
• And so goes the story of the 7 brothers who married the same woman and all of them died including the woman. After the resurrection who will be her husband?
• Well, not really a very good example if we speak of Christian morality where the woman had 7 husbands but even in the modern times, the late and famous Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor has more than 13 husbands in a row!
• While it is not very common, it still can happen. We need to understand the cultural background of the gospel
• At that time if a family has no child and the husband dies it is a practice that the brother of the husband will marry the wife of his brother. It was acceptable at that time because they need to preserve their tribe. Anthropology calls it as self-preservation
• And going back to the gospel what was the answer of Jesus? In the resurrection there is no more marriage because our bodies will be like angels
• There will be no more carnal desires, only on earth where we give in to marriage because we need to be assured of the continuity of the human race
• Otherwise, there will be no one to populate this planet earth kung wala nang mag-aasawa
• In the resurrection our complexion will be like newborn babies without a single blemish in the skin
• We will all be handsome and beautiful no matter how ugly we are today. All the ugliness that we have today are just very temporary
• Our bodies, our countenance our total being will now completely and perfectly mirror the beauty of God and the image of God
• Remember that we are created according to the image and likeness of God
• Of course, on the other hand, if we live a life so full of all the horrible sins we commit without repentance until the last breath of our life, even the most beautiful woman would also look like the ugly demons in hell

C. Challenge
• The message of the gospel today is really for us Christians to understand the message of hope in the resurrection
• That according to the eyes of faith there is really resurrection that will occur and Jesus is the foremost of the example because he resurrected after his death
• There is no such thing as reincarnation in the Catholic doctrine. Stop all that. That is Buddhism
• The life that we live is only once and after this earthly life we will all resurrect all ready for the final judgment
• If we are good, we will resurrect and we will be with God
• If we are so bad and in our entire life we did nothing but bad things, we will still resurrect but the punishment of God will be our reward
• If we expend a degree of sacrifice, there will be hope
• The little sufferings we have, the little trials, are actually can be handled well while here on earth and all will be rewarded in the after life
• Just remember, if our problems are so heavy, it will not last forever, it will only be temporary, sooner or later it will come to an end
• The challenge of today’s gospel is never to lose hope in this life that we live
• St Paul said so in the 2nd reading that we must remain strong and faithful and God will guard you from the evil one
• In the 1st reading the 7 brothers with their mother were tortured because they do not want to transgress what is in violation to their faith
• They believe that even though they suffer, God will raise them up in the end and so they accepted punishment instead of offending God. So the 1st reading tells us of the truth about the resurrection
• And so does the message of today’s gospel. We must allow resurrection to happen in the many sufferings that we undergo
• Let us always remember that there is always a bright light at the end of a long, dark tunnel
• That there is something better after all the wretchedness that occurred in our lives as Christians
• In a long stairway there is always a landing as in every suffering there is always a reprieve
• We must resurrect into life for every trial that we carry as Jesus himself resurrected and rose back into life

Tap or click to download

Luke 20 verse 27-38 Sunday

Luke 20 verse 27-38 Sunday