[Salvation]

Sunday Scripture Study

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C

November 10, 2013

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Opening Prayer  

First Reading: 2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14

Psalm: 17:1,5-6,8,15

Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:16—3:5

Gospel Reading: Luke 20:27-38

• For the last several weeks we have followed Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem. This Sunday’s Gospel reading finds him now in Jerusalem after his triumphal entry (Luke 19:35-40) and his cleansing of the temple (19:45-48). The Jewish authorities, including the Sadducees, begin to look for a way to get rid of him.

• The Sadducees were a religious/political party that accepted only the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch) as inspired scripture. Thus they rejected all oral tradition and teachings which they could not find in the Pentateuch, including a belief in the resurrection of the dead (verse 27).

• Their question as posed to Jesus is meant to ridicule the idea of a resurrection. Jesus uses the opportunity (from their own preferred version of the Scriptures) not only to answer their direct question, but to correct their mistaken concept of both marriage and the nature of the world to come.

 

QUESTIONS:

• In the First Reading, what is the basis of the hope of the Maccabean martyrs?

• In light of the themes of the First Reading and the Gospel Reading, what might St. Paul be referring to in the Second Reading when he uses terms like “everlasting encouragement,” “hope,” the Lord as being “faithful,” and “the endurance of Christ”?

• In the Gospel Reading, why would the Sadducees pose a question like this to Jesus? What are they really asking him? How do the scribes respond to Jesus’ answer (verse 39-40)? Why?

• How seriously does Jesus treat this absurd question? What if he had ridiculed it?

• How do you deal with someone who wants to argue about religion? What if the person has honest questions and you don’t have the answer?

• What does Jesus teach about life after death (verses 34-36)? How does he then “prove” the resurrection (note the verb tense in his quote from Exodus 3:6 and recall when this burning bush incident took place)?

• How do you picture the resurrection, or the life to come? What, if anything, in your personal experience has confirmed your belief in life after death?

• Does your belief in the world to come affect your priorities? Should it? How?

Closing Prayer

Catechism of the Catholic Church:  §§ 330, 991-93, 1023-29

 

For a person to go straight along the road, he must have some knowledge of the end--just as an archer will not shoot an arrow straight unless he first sees the target ...  This is particularly necessary if the road is hard and rough, the going heavy, and the end delightful.  --St. Thomas Aquinas

[Salvation]

Thoughts Before the Cross

Pastor’s Column

32^nd Sunday Ordinary Time

November 10, 2013

Each detail of our new church has meaning for our own personal journey of life.

         

 

 

The corpus for our crucifix arrived from Italy last Friday. Of course, we immediately opened it to check its condition before accepting delivery. To see this life-size image of Our Lord, wrapped in plastic like a burial shroud and encased in a coffin-like wooden box, is to realize the depths of God’s love for you and me. He was willing even to enter death so that we might have life. This image of Christ, which will hang in the center of our church, will always be a most potent symbol of His love, because we often need reminders that we are, indeed, loved by God.  

 

 

 

The cross itself is cut from the same Douglas Fir as the rest of the church. It is in fact a beautiful piece of art! But the real cross was not so beautiful to behold. In the same way, from a distance the cross may appear romantic, but when we are face to face with our own it is not always so easy! We know every cross we bear is shared with Jesus, who promised to be with us until we are home with him forever.

 

      

Finally, here in this picture we can see the place where our new “floating” cross will hang in the sanctuary. Behind it, this window will provide light. Christ is the light of the world, and even the darkness of suffering, the wood of our own cross, becomes “light” when it is shared with Christ.