DAILY- HOMILY

NOVEMBER 7, 2010
32ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – C

SECOND MACCABEES 7:1-2, 9-14
It also happened that seven brothers were arrested with their mother.
The king tried to force them to taste some pork, which the Law
forbids, by torturing them with whips and scourges. One of them,
acting as spokesman for the others, said, 'What are you trying to find
out from us? We are prepared to die rather than break the laws of our
ancestors.' With his last breath he exclaimed, 'Cruel brute, you may
discharge us from this present life, but the King of the world will
raise us up, since we die for his laws, to live again for ever.' After
him, they tortured the third, who on being asked for his tongue
promptly thrust it out and boldly held out his hands, courageously
saying, 'Heaven gave me these limbs; for the sake of his laws I have
no concern for them; from him I hope to receive them again.' The king
and his attendants were astounded at the young man's courage and his
utter indifference to suffering. When this one was dead they subjected
the fourth to the same torments and tortures. When he neared his end
he cried, 'Ours is the better choice, to meet death at men's hands,
yet relying on God's promise that we shall be raised up by him;
whereas for you there can be no resurrection to new life.'

SECOND THESSALONIANS 2:16--3:5
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has given us
his love and, through his grace, such ceaseless encouragement and such
sure hope, encourage you and strengthen you in every good word and
deed. Finally, brothers, pray for us that the Lord's message may
spread quickly, and be received with honor as it was among you; and
pray that we may be preserved from bigoted and evil people, for not
everyone has faith. You can rely on the Lord, who will give you
strength and guard you from the evil One, and we, in the Lord, have
every confidence in you, that you are doing and will go on doing all
that we tell you. May the Lord turn your hearts towards the love of
God and the perseverance of Christ.

LUKE 20:27, 34-38
Some Sadducees -- those who argue that there is no resurrection --
approached him and they put this question to him. Jesus replied, 'The
children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are
judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection
from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they
are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection
they are children of God. And Moses himself implies that the dead rise
again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not
of the dead, but of the living; for to him everyone is alive.'

REFLECTION
Everyone has a strong desire for heaven. Every human heart thirsts for
eternal life. The very thirst for eternity is an added proof for the
existence of eternal life. However, the ancients who longed to live
forever, were not sure of what happens the day after death. Therefore,
they arranged for a life lasting as long as they can be remembered
after their death by those left by them, children for example. For the
same reason, some built huge monuments like the pyramids of Egypt to
be remembered for ever. lf the ancients did that, some moderns are no
bet ter.

But Christians have strong faith in life after death. In fact, eternal
life to a Christian does not begin with death; it begins with this
faith in life after death. That is why no one, on his death, ever
repents of being a Christian.

As one of the strongest Old Testament witnesses to resurrection after
death, we hear the sons of a Jewish mother telling their persecutors:
"The King of the world will raise us up to live again forever." We
hear St. Paul blessing the Thessalonians saying: "May God our Father
who in his mercy gave us eternal consolation and hope, console your
hearts." We hear Jesus quoting those very scriptures which the Jewish
group who challenged him used as an argument to deny life after death,
to affirm that the dead do rise to life. Therefore to us believers,
death is God's delightful way of giving life.

To a Christian who is rooted in this belief, the best moment of his
Christian life would obviously be the last one, because it is the one
that is nearest to heaven. Of course, we do not know much about
heaven, except that it is forever, and that nobody there is ever
bored, for in heaven God will never hide his face from us and Satan
will never show his face to us. However, in order to overcome death
and enter into eternal life we must do what Jesus did, not what some
heroes of myths did. They seem to have overcome death, by hitting on
the mysteries of life, by brewing an eternal life drug. Other mythical
heroes, in order to enter into eternal life, took a miraculous bath.

Jesus overcame death by no such means. He overcame death by letting
himself be loved by God unconditionally. This is what we too are
called to do. We need to allow the Lord to rule our hearts in the love
of God, so that daily we lead a life of loving and being loved. Such a
life calls for accepting our earthly life as a gift to be used every
day and making it blessed by living it well. It calls for accepting
all the joys and sorrows of life without ever being discouraged. No
matter how terrifying death may be.

Death for the God-fearing, honest Christian is graduation day.
Therefore, no Christian should be afraid of it. We can rest assured
that it is the beginning of the true and everlasting life, planned for
us by God before time began.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Jo Marcelo, Jun Lee, Mon Torres, Fleur Torres, Peping Torres
- Deacon Joe Nicholas
- Bong Lacida
- Susan
… for the personal intentions of
- Luis Torres
- Josheil Dapo
- Pauline
… In Thanksgiving: Bob Barsotti
… for the eternal repose of the soul of
- Richard Raaum
Eternal rest grant unto them and may perpetual light shine upon them.
May they and all the dearly departed rest in peace.
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Nelisa G. Garcia
- Birthday: Sr. Ma. Bella Gallo R.V.M.
- Birthday: James Chuaunsu
- Birthday: Matthew Ng
- Prayer Intention: Evelyn Huang & family
… for world peace and reconciliation.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers
and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

**************************************************

These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only.
Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends,
colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the
following:

+================================================+
| The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
| priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
| http://www.marythequeen.org
| Distributed free and for personal use only.
+================================================+

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GoogleGroup Address: http://groups.google.com/group/daily_homily
To subscribe from this free mailing service, send email to: dailyhomily@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe: daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

© 2010 Daily-Homily