The readings for mass today are a bit depressing. The king in the first reading from the book of Maccabees spent his life trying to acquire all the gold and silver that he could, and he killed a lot of people while he was trying to become rich. He actually sounds pretty poor and pathetic, because his grief was over his failure to conquer the city in Persia, and seize their wealth for himself. He was sick with grief and took to his bed to wallow in his misery. It sounds like he had a serious case of depression, but his depression was self inflicted because of his greed. There is a reason that greed is called one of the seven deadly sins, and this king’s story shows why.
However, this king had a redeeming quality about him. At the end of his life he recognized his sins and had true contrition for the evil things he did in Jerusalem, stealing all their gold and silver and killing the inhabitants of Judah for no reason. He realized he was dying in a foreign land, in bitter grief because of his sins. That should actually be a positive thing for us to remember. The reason why, is because we should never give up on someone who rejects God and lives their entire lives in sin. Human beings can be redeemed even until the very last moment of death. Jesus also proved this by telling the good thief on the cross that he would join him in paradise on that very day.
Still, what a waste of a human life, to spend it pursuing wealth. Who really cared about him when he died, if he only thought of himself most of his life? Even he came to realize in the end, that his life was a failure and he was being punished for how he had lived his life. We sure don’t want to be in his shoes one day. God gives us many chances to realize this throughout our lives and today is one of them, through these living words of scripture.
Today’s gospel contains living words as well. It’s really quite beautiful the way Jesus describes life after we die. We should pay careful attention to his words that “those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead”…. because he is clearly teaching us that not everyone will be “deemed worthy” to enter into the ever lasting joy of heaven. If we become too selfish like the king in the first reading for mass today, we could jeopardize our place in heaven and that would be utter devastation in the long run. Short term pleasures are just not worth the long term sacrifice.
It’s beautiful the way Jesus describes our immortal souls, “They can no longer die, for they are like the angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.” God isn’t the God of the dead, but the living. Death is just a door that we cross through, but we remain the same. Who we are is the same inside. That can be a good thing, or a bad thing depending on how we are living our lives.
If you’ve ever been seriously ill, then you realize that life can come to an end at any time, and when it does, everything just stops right where it’s at, dirty laundry and all. If your life was to end in a few days, would you have any regrets about how you are currently living your life? The past is the past, but what is the condition of your life right now? What is the condition of your relationship with Jesus and with your family, and your friends?
We all want to die in a state of grace, so we should be mindful of how we are actually living our life today.
