Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 11-19-05

November 19, 2005
Saturday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Psalm: Saturday 49

Reading I
1 Mc 6:1-13

As King Antiochus was traversing the inland provinces,
he heard that in Persia there was a city called Elymais,
famous for its wealth in silver and gold,
and that its temple was very rich,
containing gold helmets, breastplates, and weapons
left there by Alexander, son of Philip,
king of Macedon, the first king of the Greeks.
He went therefore and tried to capture and pillage the city.
But he could not do so,
because his plan became known to the people of the city
who rose up in battle against him.
So he retreated and in great dismay withdrew from there
to return to Babylon.

While he was in Persia, a messenger brought him news
that the armies sent into the land of Judah had been put to flight;
that Lysias had gone at first with a strong army
and been driven back by the children of Israel;
that they had grown strong
by reason of the arms, men, and abundant possessions
taken from the armies they had destroyed;
that they had pulled down the Abomination
which he had built upon the altar in Jerusalem;
and that they had surrounded with high walls
both the sanctuary, as it had been before,
and his city of Beth-zur.

When the king heard this news,
he was struck with fear and very much shaken.
Sick with grief because his designs had failed, he took to his bed.
There he remained many days, overwhelmed with sorrow,
for he knew he was going to die.

So he called in all his Friends and said to them:
“Sleep has departed from my eyes,
for my heart is sinking with anxiety.
I said to myself: ‘Into what tribulation have I come,
and in what floods of sorrow am I now!
Yet I was kindly and beloved in my rule.’
But I now recall the evils I did in Jerusalem,
when I carried away all the vessels of gold and silver
that were in it, and for no cause
gave orders that the inhabitants of Judah be destroyed.
I know that this is why these evils have overtaken me;
and now I am dying, in bitter grief, in a foreign land.”

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 9:2-3, 4 and 6, 16 and 19

R. (see 16a) I will rejoice in your salvation, O Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will declare all your wondrous deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, Most High.
R. I will rejoice in your salvation, O Lord.
Because my enemies are turned back,
overthrown and destroyed before you.
You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
their name you blotted out forever and ever.
R. I will rejoice in your salvation, O Lord.
The nations are sunk in the pit they have made;
in the snare they set, their foot is caught.
For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
nor shall the hope of the afflicted forever perish.
R. I will rejoice in your salvation, O Lord.

Gospel
Lk 20:27-40

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,
came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying,
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us,
If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife
and raise up descendants for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers;
the first married a woman but died childless.
Then the second and the third married her,
and likewise all the seven died childless.
Finally the woman also died.
Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?

For all seven had been married to her.”
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.
That the dead will rise
even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
when he called ‘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.”
Some of the scribes said in reply,
“Teacher, you have answered well.”
And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

From: 1 Maccabees 6:1-13

Death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes

[1] King Antiochus was going through the upper provinces when he heard
that Blymais in Persia was a city famed for its wealth in silver and
gold. [2] Its temple was very rich, containing golden shields,
breastplates, and weapons left there by Alexander, the son of Philip,
the Macedonian king who first reigned over the Greeks.

[3] So he came and tried to take the city and plunder it, but he could
not, because his plan became known to the men of the city [4] and they
withstood him in battle So he fled and in great grief departed from
there to return to Babylon.

[5] Then some one came to him in Persia and reported that the armies
which had gone into the land of Judah had been routed; [6] that Lysias
had gone first with a strong force, but had turned and fled before the
Jews;that the Jews had grown strong from the arms, supplies, and
abundant spoils which they had taken from the armies they had cut
down, [7] that they had torn down the abomination which he had erected
upon the altar in Jerusalem; and that they had surrounded the
sanctuary with high walls as before, and also Beth-zur, his city.

[8] When the king heard this news, he was astounded and badly shaken.
He took to his bed and became sick from grief, because things had not
turned out for him as he had planned. [9] He lay there for many days,
because deep grief continually gripped him, and he concluded that he
was dying. [10] So he called all his friends and said to them, “Sleep
departs from my eyes and I am downhearted with
worry. [11] l said to myself, ‘To what distress I have come! And into
what a great flood I now am plunged! For I was kind and beloved in my
power.’ [12] But now I remember the evils I did in Jerusalem. I seized
all her vessels of silver and gold; and I sent to destroy the
inhabitants of Judah without good reason. [13] I know that it is
because of this that these evils have come upon me; and behold, I am
perishing of deep grief in a strange land.”

Commentary:

6:1-17. According to 3:29-31, Antiochus embarked on his expedition to
get funds to counter the drain on the empire caused by the war against
the Jews. And now we are told that the king’s death was brought on by
the reports on that war. The information given here about the death of
Antiochus agrees with that in 2 Maccabees 9:1-29 only in a very
general way. First Maccabees says that Elymais was a city, whereas it
was a region in Persia (Elam) where the capital, Susa, was located.
The king dies as a result of depression caused by reports of the
Jewish victories, and he acknowledges that he has acted wrongly
towards the Jews; but, he does not go so far as to invoke the God of
Israel (as 2 Maccabees says he did). Second Maccabees, moreover,
describes him as suffering a most awful death (not the case here).
However, both books make it clear that Antiochus realized that in
persecuting the Jews and profaning their temple he was taking on
someone much more powerful than himself, and that that was why he was
punished by God. In Christian tradition (St Hippolytus, "In
Danielem", 4, 49; St Jerome, "Commentaria in Danielem", 11), Antiochus
is depicted as the first instance of the Antichrist who for a period
seeks to take God’s place but is eventually overpowered by him.

The death of Antiochus, resulting from his frustration at not being
able to eradicate loyalty to and worship of the true God, symbolizes
in some way the tragic condition of those who go so far as to try to
uproot God from their own lives or that of society.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Luke 20:27-40

The Resurrection of the Dead

[27] There came to Him (Jesus) some Sadducees, those who say that there
is no resurrection, [28] and they asked Him a question saying,
"Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife
but no children, the man must take the wife and raise up children for
his brother. [29] Now there were seven brothers; the first took a
wife, and died without children; [30] and the second [31] and the third
took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. [32]
Afterward the woman also died. [33] In the resurrection, therefore,
whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife."

[34] And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given
in marriage; [35] but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that
age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given
in marriage, [36] for they cannot die any more, because they are equal
to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. [37]
But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about
the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of
Isaac and the God of Jacob. [38] Now He is not God of the dead, but of
the living; for all live to Him." [39] And some of scribes answered,
"Teacher, You have spoken well." [40] For they no longer dared to ask
Him any question.

Commentary:

27-40. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the body or
the immortality of the soul. They came along to ask Jesus a question
which is apparently unanswerable. According to the Levirate law (cf.
Deuteronomy 25:5ff), if a man died without issue, his brother was duty
bound to marry his widow to provide his brother with descendants. The
consequences of this law would seem to give rise to a ridiculous
situation at the resurrection of the dead.

Our Lord replies by reaffirming that there will be a resurrection; and
by explaining the properties of those who have risen again, the
Sadducees' argument simply evaporates. In this world people marry in
order to continue the species: that is the primary aim of marriage.
After the resurrection there will be no more marriage because people
will not die anymore.

Quoting Sacred Scripture (Exodus 3:2, 6) our Lord shows the grave
mistake the Sadducees make, and He argues: God is not the God of the
dead but of the living, that is to say, there exists a permanent
relationship between God and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who have been
dead for years. Therefore, although these just men have died as far as
their bodies are concerned, they are alive, truly alive, in God--their
souls are immortal--and they are awaiting the resurrection of their
bodies.

See also the notes on Matthew 22:23-33 and Mark 12:18-27.

[The note on Matthew 22:23-33 states:

23-33. The Sadducees argue against belief in the resurrection of the
dead on the basis of the Levirate law, a Jewish law which laid down
that when a married man died without issue, one of his brothers,
according to a fixed order, should marry his widow and the first son of
that union be given the dead man's name. By outlining an extreme cases
the Sadducees make the law and belief in resurrection look ridiculous.
In His reply, Jesus shows up the frivolity of their objections and
asserts the truth of the resurrection of the dead.]

[The note on Mark 12:18-27 states:

18-27. Before answering the difficulty proposed by the Sadducees, Jesus
wants to identify the source of the problem--man's tendency to confine
the greatness of God inside a human framework through excessive
reliance on reason, not giving due weight to divine Revelation and the
power of God. A person can have difficulty with the truths of faith;
this is not surprising, for these truths are above human reason. But
it is ridiculous to try to find contradictions in the revealed word of
God; this only leads away from any solution of difficulty and may make
it impossible to find one's way back to God. We need to approach
Sacred Scripture, and, in general, the things of God, with the humility
which faith demands. In the passage about the burning bush, which
Jesus quotes to the Sadducees, God says this to Moses: "Put off your
shoes from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground"
(Exodus 3:5).]

Catholic Culture

Collect:
Father of all that is good, keep us faithful in serving you, for to serve you is our lasting joy. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Activities:

less

Prayers:

November 19, 2005

Saturday of the Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time

Old Calendar: St. Elizabeth of Hungary, widow; St. Pontianus, pope and martyr

Death does not herald the end of personal existence but rather a new triumphal beginning. Although we are faced with the certainty of death, we are at the same time consoled by the promise of a glorious bodily immortality. What Christ, the Head of the Mystical Body, did for Himself He will also do for His members. The same divine power is always operative within Him.

Before the reform of the Roman Calendar, today was the memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, which is now celebrated on November 17. It was also the commemoration of St. Pontianus (or Pontian) whose optional memorial is now August 13.

Purification Before the Beatific Vision
Each soul in Purgatory is struggling to reach God, gravitating toward him, getting closer at each newly achieved episode of insight and repentance. We can take on some of their burdens, turn their stairway into a moving escalator. "Many believe too easily in the prompt deliverance of their dear ones, and after a period of time, say a month, no longer pray for them," writes Garrigou-Lagrange sadly (p. 200). The Church certainly teaches us to come to the aid of the departed, especially by offering for them the Sacrifice of the Mass, by gaining indulgences, by receiving the Sacraments frequently and devoutly, by performing works of charity and penance. Our generosity will surely be rewarded by Christ who promised: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Matt. 5:7). Lagrange also gives us the excellent advice to work off our Purgatory here on earth by generous acceptance of all contrarieties; accepting them now provides growth in charity, a growth which closes with the change of our abode (p. 194).

Those of us who will pass through Purgatory on the way to heaven will finally agree that all God's commandments are GOOD, that they MUST BE KEPT, and that they CAN BE KEPT. That is good reason to pray daily: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Also: "Train me to observe your law, to keep it with all my heart" (Ps. 119). If we pray thus, and live in that pattern, then perhaps - just perhaps - we may be privileged, like the martyrs, to by-pass Purgatory; to pop out of solar time directly into timeless eternity. Note, however, that St. Teresa of Avila learned that among the good religious she knew, only three had completed their purgatory on earth (see Lagrange, p. 194).

— Anthony Zimmerman, STD

Homily of the Day

One Bread, One Body

<< Saturday, November 19, 2005 >>

1 Maccabees 6:1-13

Psalm 9

Luke 20:27-40

View Readings

HAVE IT YOUR WAY?

"But I now recall the evils I did in Jerusalem...these evils have overtaken me; and now I am dying, in bitter grief, in a foreign land." —1 Maccabees 6:12, 13

Antiochus Epiphanes IV had savagely butchered the people of God. For example, he had killed babies and hung them from the necks of their mothers (1 Mc 1:61). He had militantly imposed the secular Greeks' lifestyle upon the chosen people. He had literally gotten away with murder.

The Lord was willing to die in place of Antiochus. God wanted Antiochus to repent, but he persisted in his sin. So God let Antiochus have his way and reap the wages of sin, that is, death (Rm 6:23). Antiochus "was struck with fear and very much shaken. Sick with grief because his designs had failed, he took to his bed. There he remained many days, overwhelmed with sorrow, for he knew he was going to die" (1 Mc 6:8-9).

"The Lord, indeed, knows how to rescue devout men from trial, and how to continue the punishment of the wicked up to the day of judgment" (2 Pt 2:9). The Lord will also let us have our way, even to eternal damnation. But if we don't accept the justice Jesus accomplished on Calvary, we must suffer the terrible justice of hell. May Jesus' death not be in vain. Accept Him as Your Lord and Savior. Be justified in Him.

Prayer: Jesus, may I not insist on having it my way and going to hell.

Promise: "The children of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those judged worthy of a place in the age to come and of resurrection from the dead do not." —Lk 20:34-35

Praise: Joseph grew in humility and attained a better prayer life during his battle against cancer.

The Word Among Us

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Meditation
Luke 20:27-40

Choices can be agonizing. In our human condition, every choice we make limits us. If I do this, I cannot do that. What if I had taken a different job? Said “no” to a powerful temptation? Sought reconciliation before it was too late?

Jesus’ interlocutors didn’t really believe in life after death. When they imagined such a life (in order to ridicule it), they extended into it the limitations of this life. Following the directive of the Mosaic Law which is aimed at perpetuating a deceased man’s name, seven brothers serially married one woman. Whose wife will she be in the resurrection? Obviously she can’t be married to all of them!

Jesus might have replied, “And why not? Why can’t all resurrected human beings enjoy the same degree of intimacy? Your poverty of imagination doesn’t mean it couldn’t be so!”

Instead, he accepted their accurate but limited vision of marriage and sought to expand their conception of heaven. What are relationships like in heaven? Jesus pointed to God’s intimate relationship with the great heroes of Genesis, one of the few Old Testament books the conservative Sadducees accepted. God revealed himself to Jacob as “the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac” (Genesis 28:13). There was no hint of the past tense. God didn’t say he used to be Abraham’s God until the patriarch died, or that he will be Jacob’s God only after Isaac passes on. No, God is able to be in an intimate relationship with every person who seeks him, and that relationship is “changed, not ended” when our earthly existence ends.

In heaven, there will be no regrets, no limits, no poor choices. Instead, there will be opportunity for endless exploration, limitless intimacy with God and each of his beloved children. These limitless choices have been opened up to us because of the most essential choice of all. Before any conscious choice on our part, God chose each of us to be his own. After many sinful choices on our part, God chose to limit himself by taking on our human flesh and bearing it to the cross. Our appropriate and grateful responses are myriad.

“Jesus, you have bound yourself to each of us in love. Unite me with you and transform all of my choices into responses to your great love.”

1 Maccabees 6:1-13; Psalm 9:2-4,6,16,19

Lk 20:27-40
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
27	And there came to him some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is any resurrection, and they asked him,	accesserunt autem quidam Sadducaeorum qui negant esse resurrectionem et interrogaverunt eum
28	Saying: Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he leave no children, that his brother should take her to wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.	dicentes magister Moses scripsit nobis si frater alicuius mortuus fuerit habens uxorem et hic sine filiis fuerit ut accipiat eam frater eius uxorem et suscitet semen fratri suo
29	There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.	septem ergo fratres erant et primus accepit uxorem et mortuus est sine filiis
30	And the next took her to wife, and he also died childless.	et sequens accepit illam et ipse mortuus est sine filio
31	And the third took her. And in like manner all the seven, and they left no children, and died.	et tertius accepit illam similiter et omnes septem et non reliquerunt semen et mortui sunt
32	Last of all the woman died also.	novissima omnium mortua est et mulier
33	In the resurrection therefore, whose wife of them shall she be? For all the seven had her to wife.	in resurrectione ergo cuius eorum erit uxor siquidem septem habuerunt eam uxorem
34	And Jesus said to them: The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:	et ait illis Iesus filii saeculi huius nubunt et traduntur ad nuptias
35	But they that shall be accounted worthy of that world, and of the resurrection from the dead, shall neither be married, nor take wives.	illi autem qui digni habebuntur saeculo illo et resurrectione ex mortuis neque nubunt neque ducunt uxores
36	Neither can they die any more: for they are equal to the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.	neque enim ultra mori poterunt aequales enim angelis sunt et filii sunt Dei cum sint filii resurrectionis
37	Now that the dead rise again, Moses also shewed, at the bush, when he called the Lord, The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;	quia vero resurgant mortui et Moses ostendit secus rubum sicut dicit Dominum Deum Abraham et Deum Isaac et Deum Iacob
38	For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live to him.	Deus autem non est mortuorum sed vivorum omnes enim vivunt ei
39	And some of the scribes answering, said to him: Master, thou hast said well.	respondentes autem quidam scribarum dixerunt magister bene dixisti
40	And after that they durst not ask him any more questions.	et amplius non audebant eum quicquam interrogare

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