The last sentence that Jesus spoke in today’s gospel was, “That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called out, ‘Lord,’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
The four young men who were put to death for their faith in the first reading for mass today, most certainly believed this. Their faith in God and in the afterlife was rock solid. They never wavered in the slightest and they willingly faced martyrdom rather than deny what they believed. The fourth brother when he was near death said, “It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him.” Even the king and his attendants marveled at the courage of the third brother who was put to death, because he also regarded his sufferings as nothing.
These young men were so sure of the afterlife that they willingly accepted death, rather than deny their faith in the one true God, or do something that was contrary to their religious beliefs. There are more than a few of our Catholic politicians that could learn a lot from the example of these men who gave their lives, rather than compromise their religious beliefs. What these seven men and their mother believed and was willing to die for, was pretty cut and dried. They did not even know what the term “politically correct” meant. Unfortunately, we do. Perhaps this passage in scripture today might refresh our awareness that you have to stand for something in life. There is an expression that “if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything” and that is something the young men in this reading understood perfectly.
Why did the Protestants remove this book from their bible? The first reading from the second book of Maccabees beautifully depicts the faith of these seven young men and their mother. How is it that this book could be deemed to not be the inspired writings of God, working through the Holy Spirit? This story has lived throughout the generations and will indeed live until the end of time. The lives of these seven young men meant something and their lives deserve to be remembered.
Jesus explains more about eternal life in today’s gospel, when he is asked about a woman who married seven brothers. After each one died, she married the next one until she herself died. They asked him, whose wife she would be in heaven? (As a side note, it is a bit odd that the first reading for mass is about seven brothers who died and so is the gospel today.)
Jesus said “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.”
For married couples who have a very close bond of love between them, this is a little daunting to think of not being married to one another in heaven. For couples who are divorced or living in an abusive relationship, this might seem like a relief though.
However, this is something we should all keep in mind. We have a separate identity from the person we are married to. Sometimes couples can be so close that they allow their “other half” to make decisions and manage things on their behalf, because they trust their judgement and it’s easier to let them handle it. However, we will not be judged by another person’s actions, only our own. Love is what will live into eternity. It may be easy to coast along through life on auto pilot, but we need to take the helm sometimes and be the one to show love to our children and our spouses too. No one else can do this for us.
On a positive note, Jesus says in today’s gospel that the children of God no longer die for they are like the angels, so we will one day rise and become like angels. Love rises. Love is lightweight and doesn’t overly cling to earthly “things”. Love is eternal. The seven brothers in the first reading today understood this perfectly. They were perhaps joined together that same day in heaven, to celebrate their love for God and to live in one another’s company, forever. They attained eternal happiness, by not clinging to worldly things or worldly values.
Maybe today we could think about our attitudes and how we are personally living our lives. What is really the most important thing in life to us? Are we living our lives in a cohesive manner with this truth? Has anyone else influenced us to compromise the truths that we profess to believe? No one else has the right to think, or act for us, without our permission. God gave each of us free will and he respects our free will. What a beautiful thing it is though, when we freely choose to love God and to love his son Jesus and one another. That’s really what life is all about.
Daily Mass Readings:
2 Mc 7:1-2, 9-11 / Ps 17 / Thes 2: 6-3:5 / Lk 20:27-28
